Odd Couples
by HarverLynn
Summary: Hello readers! If there are even any of you left out there. Alas, an update! After years yes, years I bring you a new chapter to this ongoing saga. It's the summer before college, and Vaughn and Corrine leave their friends and family behind to pursue an education in London. Join Josie, Corrine, Vaughn, Lucas and Marshall as they chase after a little more than summer love! CV
1. Ch1 Make up for the Miles

Odd Couples  
Ch. 1: Make up for the Miles

SUMMARY: It's the summer before college, and Vaughn leaves for an education in London. Corrine who had fallen in love with the metropolis on her backpacking trip shortly joins him. Before leaving, they both decide it's a good idea to break off from their current relationships, leaving a heartbroken Josie and Marshall behind. Lucas, on the other hand, has his own agenda tucked away secretly in his sleeves. Join Josie, Corrine, Vaughn, Lucas and Marshall as they chase after a little more than summer love.

**Also, please review if you like my fic, and wish to see it continued. The lack of reader interest will take away any appeal of continuing, so if you wish to see the end, please review.**

DISCLAIMER: Bhh is not mine!

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Marshall paced the room, as he watched his girlfriend pack her very last suitcase. He had only just seen her pack a month earlier, and now here he was watching the same scene repeat all over. But this time he wouldn't be going along with her. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear his mind. "I really don't get exactly why your doing this,"

"What's there to get? I'm moving to London," She noticed the absence of his treading feet and looked back over her shoulders.

"You're going to school in London," he cleared, "There's a difference."

"Yeah, but I'll still be there for most of the year." she explained. "Don't you get it Marshall?"

"No, I don't, I mean, didn't you allready get enough of the place on our backpacking excursion?"

She seemed to ignore his question, and continued packing, sorting through various items that had been sprawled out on her floor. One of which was a small replica of the Eiffle Tower, Marshall bought her. She paused when she felt him approach her.

"Corrine," came his voice, softer than she has ever heard it.

She took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Look, we'll be thousands of miles apart. Miles that no amount of phone calls or postcards could ever make up for,"

He stood there processing her words. He knew it, she was breaking up with him.

"Say something Marshall," she said looking up.

"Like what?" he asked with more of a bite than he intended.

"I don't know, just something,"

"Corrine," he started, "are you saying you want to break up?"

"No," she found her self lying when she saw all the hurt in his eyes. Hurt that made her wish, she could take back those words, and pretend that everything was okay.

Marshall shook his head. "Yes, that is what you're saying!" He never liked having arguments with her, but this time he just couldn't help it. What was he suppsed to do, give up and let her leave him, possibly for forever?

"God, Marshall! Why do you have to make it so hard!" Corrine stood up, dropping the mini tower she had been holding onto.

"Me?" he pointed to himself. "You're the one giving up on us!"

"I'm not giving up," she protested.

"Oh, so what do you call, 'no amount of phone calls or postcards could ever make up for'?" He stepped a little closer to Corrine, only to find her turn her back to him and make her way to her dresser.

"The truth, Marshall, that's what I call it," she explained in a calm voice.

"Yeah, well your truth is a little messed up,"

There was a long silence before either of them spoke up. Marshall was trying to surpress the pain he felt, and realized that arguing was only going to make their situation worse. He stepped a little closer to Corrine, untill she felt the slightest tickle from his breath on her neck. "I'd do anything you want, Corrine. Just don't tell me you want to break up."

"That's not what I want," she whispered.

"Then tell me what it is," he pleaded. "Becuase I know your not telling me you want to break up over a few silly miles,"

When she didn't reply he got a sense it wasn't about the distance at all. "Or is there another reason?" he asked stepping back, his voice full of pain.

She turned around feeling almost lost without him standing by so close. "No, of course not, Marshall, that's not it," she reached out for his hand, but he pulled away too quickly.

He searched her eyes, in hopes to find an answer. "I, I need to go,"

"Marshall,"

"I'll talk to you later. I just need...I need some air," he grabbed his coat off from her bed.

"There isn't going to be a later, Marshall. My plane leaves in four hours,"

He glanced at the clock. Was it allready past seven! "What! You never told me it was leaving so soon,"

"Myabe you just never listened," she said flatly.

He looked at her with sincerity, trying to collect the right words to say, but he found nothing. Breathing out a frusterated sigh, he looked at her one last time before turning the knob on the door.

-------------------

Knock Knock

Josie quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks with her allready dampened kleenex. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror. There was no hiding her sadness. Her eyes were red and swollen from endless teary nights. Then sprinting to the door at another series of knocks, she tried her best to fake a smile.

"Hey Josie," greeted Lucas.

"Lucas, didn't expect you for another 30 minutes,"

"Well, yeah, but we better get a move on it, if we want to see Corrine take off. I hear it's a major traffic jam on the way to the airport," It was hard to ignore her devastated appearance. But he gave up trying to make it a big deal, as it only caused her more trouble. Allready her claimed love had left her, and now her best friend was following close behind.

"Let me just go get ready," she opened the door wider and motioned him in. "I'll be down in a few,"

"Okay," he brushed pass her and stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs.

She eyed him curiously from the corner of her eyes as she locked the door. "Just make yourself at home,"

"Yeah of course," he nodded.

"There's some chilled soda in the fridge, if you want any," she added as she began to climb the steps.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Lucas answered. He had never been to her house before today. The past month, he and his family were in Hawaii. So there was no possible way to visit any of his friends.

He paced down the hall, drinking in the cozy atmosphere of Josie's, or rather Josie's mom's tastefully decored home. He paused when he noticed Josie's diploma proudly hanging on the wall. It all seemed so long ago. Black hole high, the wormhole, Pearadyne. It felt as if everyone had completely put the past behind them. But he couldn't blame them, they were all busy settling into their new lives. Especially Vaughn and Corrine, as they were getting ready to start a new life in a new country. Soon it was just going to be Joise, Marshall and himself. And he didn't know exactly how that was going to fare.

He remembered the sodas in the fridge, and figured he'd take one to help pass the time.

-------------------

Air didn't really help. What he really needed was someone to talk to, and a way to help change Corrine's mind. But he knew nothing would help. She knew what she wanted, no use in trying to change her mind. All the same, he dug into his pockets and pulled out his cell. He flipped it open and searched for a very familiar number, and after hitting the call key, sat himself on the edge on a nearby bench.

-  
So, that was the first chapter. How was it? Please review. And don't worry there will be more interactions between the characters in the coming chapters. I can't really say what's on the way besides that, I write as it comes to mind.


	2. Ch2 Stop Pretending

Odd Couples  
Ch. 2: Stop Pretending

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"Marshall?" answered the other end of the call.

"Hey Lucas," Marshall stared down following the cement pathway with his eyes. "got a minute?"

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked as he switched the phone from his right hand to his left, as he reached into the fridge to grab a can of soda. "Damn, it's diet," he cursed.

"What was that?"

Lucas hadn't realized that he said it out loud. "Oh nothing." He placed the can back into the fridge, and opted for a glass of milk instead. "So what do you want to talk about?" There was no point in asking. He allready knew what the answer was.

"Corrine," answered Marshall.

"Of course," Lucas began searching through the cupboards for a glass. He found them neatly organized by height next to the dishes. He smiled inwardly. 'Guess mother's not always like daughter' he thought, as he extended his arm to the back for one of the taller glasses.

Marshall glanced around the park. It was quite deserted, and besides the crew of guys trimming up the grass and bushes off to the far side, he was all alone. And right now that is exactly how he felt. "She's breaking up with me Lucas,"

His reply surprised him, and the glass that Lucas had just carefully pulled out from the back, and had thought was secure in his hands, slipped and shattered on the floor. "Crap!"

"Lucas what was that!" Marshall asked worriedly. Had the news surprised Lucas more than it did him? When there was no answer from his friend, he increased to an excessive shout, thinking his friend had fallen down. "LUCAS! ARE YOU STILL THERE?"

Lucas stared down at the mess, thinking how he'd clean it up. 'I hope she didn't hear that,' he thought. But when he looked up, he was saw Josie standing there, looking shocked. "Sorry Josie," he appologized into his phone.

"NO LUCAS, THIS IS MARSHALL!" replied the other end of the call.

"Marshall, let me call you back," he said not looking away from Josie's stare.

"Oh good, you're o...wait! Lucas, don't hang-" too late. Lucas had allready ended the call. "-up."

Josie, shook her head as she trudged over to a closet to retrieve a broom and dustpan. "I told you you could get a soda, not ruin one of my mom's glasses," she pushed Lucas off to the side as she began to sweep up the broken glass.

"I'm sorry," he appologized for a second time.

"It's okay," she claimed, but her tone said otherwise.

"Here, let me get that. It's my fault," he offered, trying to take the broom from her, but she only nudged him back.

"No it's fine, I've got it."

He stood aside, watching her carefully pick up the remaining smaller shards that were conspicuously scattered on the floor. If only she could pick her self up the same way from the mess that she had become.

When she was done, he was still absentmindedly staring down at the spot she had just left. "Lucas?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah," he said snapping back from his thoughts.

She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. "are you okay?"

"Yeah!" he answered with a bit too much enthusiasm. He furrowed his brow, "...we should really get going,"

"Yeah, of course," she ran to the living room adjacent from the kitchen and snatched her keys, surprisingly along with a mini messenger bag from the coffee table. "Okay, let's go,"

"Ladies first," he stretched his arms out in front of him, and gave a slight bow.

Josie walked ahead, Lucas trailing behind.

-------------------

Marshall leaned back on the bench, and sighed heavily. 'Corrine,' he thought, as he closed his eyes. There was a slightly cool breeze in the evening air, and he could feel it on his face.

A figure was quickly approaching the bench from the distance.

"Marshall?" asked an all too familiar voice.

Marshall let one eye lid lazily open, taking a peek at the person, who had just happened by, or he had hoped to have, becuase all that time he had thought he was alone. Realizing who it was, he completely opened his eyes, and straightened his back. "Professor Z!"

"Marshall," he confirmed with a smile.

He was wearing track suit bottoms, and a plain old black tee, stained with sweat.

"May I sit?" asked Z, nodding to the vacant spot on the bench next to Marshall.

"Uh...yeah!" he scooted over to the the side to make more room. Enough room, so that he wouldn't accidentally rub his elbows with Z's evidently sweaty ones.

"Never see you around here," Z began, looking for an explanation.

"I don't really come to the park," Marshall explained, fixing his stare at the grass.

"You did today," Z wiped the persperation from his forehead with the sleeve of his tee. "Any particular reason why?"

Igonoring Z's question, he turned to face his once science teacher, "Do you come to run here often?"

He, too fixed his gaze upon the grass, as he answered the question. "I try to, yes. They have a great running course through the woods. I find it relaxing."

"Always in the evening?"

Z furrowed his brow. Since when did his running habbits, ever mattered? He felt like he was being interrogated, and by someone about or even more than ten years his junior nonetheless. He answered after a moment's hesitation, "yes,"

Surprisingly Marshall didn't ask anything after, so Z continued. "You look like you've got something on your mind. Is that why you're here?"

His student eyed him suspisciously. "How do you know?"

"C'mon, Marshall. How long exactly have we known eachother?" he explained more than asking.

Marshall nodded his understanding. If he needed someone to talk to, why not Z? "It's Corrine,"

"Ahh," Z leaned back on the bench and rested his hands on the back of his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

-------------------

Conversation was lacking between Lucas and Josie. Neither of them had said a single word since they left the house.

Josie decided to break the awkward silence. "Nice car, Lucas,"

"Thanks," he didn't break his concentration from the road. "Graduation present," he then explained.

"Nice," she smoothed her hand over the black leather seats.

She then stared out her window, her eyes skimming the endless treetops. It was allready close to 9, and from where they lived it was about an half an hour's drive to the airport, but with the added traffic that she could allready make out in the distance, it would easily add another 30 minutes. Equalling one long awkward drive if they didn't start a conversation soon.

"How was vacationing in Hawaii?" she asked, keeping her gaze outside.

"Great" he simply answered. He hesitated, as if he was about to add something to his answer, but he only asked, "How was summer school?" he cringed on the inside at their forced discussion.

"It was allright," she answered turning to face him.

"That's good,"

Josie watched him closely. The way he had been acting, wast no surprise to her at all. Lately, or since last week, he had been acting the same way around her, even when they were around Corrine and Marshall. He kept conversation light, and he never made much of an eye contact with her. Coincindently, he had started acting this way, the day she had yelled at him for making a big deal about her current situation with Vaughn.

Lucas noticed from the corner of his eyes that Joise was blatantly watching him. He glanced over in her direction, giving a weak smile.

"You can stop pretending now, Lucas" she said, in response.

"What are you talking about?" but he did know.

"Look, we both know perfectly well that you aren't acting like yourself at all Lucas," she explained, not breaking away from her stare.

"I'm acting perfectly normal," he insisted.

"I know you want to say something to me about Vauhn, so just go ahead and say it, so we can get it over with and have no more awkwardness between us," explained Josie.

"I...I have noth--" he began.

"--LUCAS! Stop it, and just say what it is one your mind okay!"

He sighed in defeat. "Okay," he breathed. "I hate seeing you like this Josie. It makes me hurt to see you in such a wreck. I know you love Vauhn, and you wish he didn't go away, but...but crying over it all night won't do any good. Look at what it's done to you, if any of us hasn't been acting like themselves, I'd say it'd be you. Josie, you need to move on,"

-  
Again, please review. I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.


	3. Ch3 Traffic Jam

Odd Couples  
Ch. 3: Traffic Jam

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"Oh, and I suppose you'd want me to move on to you?"

Her reply took Lucas by surprise, so much that he almost steered the car into the opposing lane, which is saying allot, being that it's two lanes over. He didn't mean to get her upset, he only wanted to help her, and obviously he failed at that.

"No, that's not what I meant," said Lucas, but secretly that was all he could wish for.

Josie smiled smugly, "I knew it, you're still jealous that I picked Vaughn and not you,"

"I'm not jealous," he lied. "I just...I just think it's best if you--"

"--no Lucas, you don't know what▓s best for me!" she declared. This was not what she pictured when she asked Lucas to say what was on his mind. She figured once he got whatever was bothering him off his chest, everything would be back to the way it was. But it didn't help, and if anything, it surely worsened their situation. "You know, I'd rather have that awkwardness between us, than have to talk to you the whole way to the airport."

"Fine," He literally felt a piece of his heart break away.

-------------------

"Well did you understand why shy said what she did?" Professor Z asked.

They had been conversing for well over half an hour. The sun was practically gone, the landscapers had left, and the only people at the park were the two of them. Z gave a yawn. He was feeling sleepy, but it wasn't even close to nine. He must have tired himself out with all that running. He turned his attention back to the young man beside him.

"I tried to," That young man answered.

Z nodded his head. "I'll take that as a no,"

"Don't get me wrong," Marshall said quickly. "I listened to everything she said,"

"There's a difference between listening and understanding, Marshall. And I take it that you didn't do much of the latter. Otherwise, I don't think you'd be here right now." Z pushed his glasses up, with a finger.

Marshall faced his former teacher. "What are you saying?" he asked "I should just let her end our relationship!"

Z stared at the ground, as if he was closely examining the concrete sidewalk. And for a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything. "I used to have a puppy," he started rather unexpectedly in a calm voice. Marshall gave him his full attention, sensing the unusual seriousness his tone had taken.

"Chowder. He was practically my little brother, than the family pet. We all loved him, but I think its safe to say that I loved him the most. So one day, we get home from spending the entire day at the zoo, and we find him balled up under a table, he was hardly breathing." Z paused, and Marshall noticed the far away look in his eyes. The kind of look, you get when you're thinking about one of those unforgettable memories.

Marshall searched for a few considerate words during the pause, but it wasn't long until Z continued.

"We rushed him to the vet, and I remember the vet talking to my parents in hushed voices off to the side, while they told me to go play in the play room. I pretended to go, but I really just hid behind a chair. And I must have been only seven or eight, but I somehow understood every single word he was telling my mom and dad. See, Chowder had some disease. He had it for awhile, we just didn't know it, and he said it was extremely painful for Chowder. He said there wasn't much he could do about it, it was already too late. So he wanted to put him down, to end his suffering. When he said that, I immediately ran out, I didn't care if they found out I'd been eavesdropping--I just ran. I got outside, and I just cried my heart out. But deep down, I knew it was for the best, I loved him too much to see him in so much pain."

Marshall stared out, not at anything in particular, just whatever his eyes landed on, while he sorted out Z's words, and what the whole purpose of Z retelling that story was.

And after five minutes of complete silence, Z stood up stretching out his arms. "It's getting late Marshall," he pointed out.

Marshall had been deeply lost in his thoughts the last few minutes. He looked up, and saw Z looming over him. "Yeah. Right."

"I'll see you around. Good night Marshall," And he was off.

"Hey!" Marshall called out. Z stopped, and gave his head a slight turn. "Sorry about Chowder,"

-------------------

Corrine finished checking in her bags and was now sitting with her parents in the airport lobby, awaiting the arrival of her friends.

"Shouldn't you be going through the gates now, honey?" asked her Mom.

Corrine craned her neck to see behind the group of people just arriving through the automatic doors. "Not yet Mom, they're coming,

I promise," she reassured.

"I just don't want you missing your plane, that's all,"

Her dad glanced down at his watch. "Don't worry, she's got plenty of time," he reassured, wrapping his arm around his wife.

Corrine heard the set of automatic doors open, and the rush of people's voices drifted into the lobby. Again she craned her neck, and a large smile spread across her face as she spotted her two friends. "There they are!" she shouted, running up to meet them.

"Sorry we're late," apologized Josie, as she leaned across to give Corrine a hug.

"Yeah, killer traffic jam," added Lucas.

Josie looked around with a slightly confused look. Then turning to Corrine asked, "Where's Marshall?"

"Oh," her cheerful tone seemed to disappear as she answered. "he's not here yet."

"That's okay," chirped Lucas, "we're still here," he motioned between him and Josie, although he didn't feel okay referring to them as 'we'.

"Yeah, and look," Josie pulled something out of her messenger bag. It was a gift wrapped rectangle, with a neat red bow at the top.

"I got you something...well, more like made it. I'm sorta low on cash." She held it out for Corrine.

"Aw, Josie you didn't have to," Corrine knew people said this all the time, even though honestly they were expecting to be given something. But unlike those people she really did mean it.

"Don't be silly,"

Corrine took the package from Josie. She noticed the red and yellow striped paper it was wrapped in, and was reminded how seldom Josie ever wrapped any of her presents before. It never really bothered Corrine, it was just silly gift wrap.

"I want you to open it now," said Josie.

Corrine moved over to a table, as Josie and Lucas closed around, watching intently.

"Is this a scrap book?" asked Corrine after she pulled the gift wrap off. She looked up at Josie, with a big grin.

Josie nodded her head.

"Josie! I never knew you made scrap books," she smoothed her fingers over the cover, feeling the different textures of paper.

"I don't, but I thought you might like it, so I said what the heck," Josie explained. She was relieved to see that Corrine liked it.

The three friends, gathered around the table, flipping through the scrapbook, and remembering what memories went with which pictures. They laughed, and had a good time, including Lucas. And though he sat across from Josie, he didn't bother to make much of an eye contact with her.

"I remember that," Lucas pointed to a photo, resulting in a burst of laughter from the group.

"Marshall is missing the fun," stated Josie between her fits of laughter, not knowing the reminder of his absence would kill Corrine's good mood.

Just that moment, her father came by. "Honey, think it's about time you start saying your goodbyes," he pointed to his watch.

Corrine glanced around at the table at her friends. Both Josie and Lucas put on a brave smile, knowing saying goodbye was always the hardest thing to do. What with Marshall not even there, they knew it would be extra hard for her. She too, put on a brave smile, before closing up the scrapbook.

She was surrounded by the people that cared for her the most. Her family, and her friends--minus Marshall, but she figured if he really did care about her, he'd be there, no questions asked. She looked around at them with a sad face.

"Don't look so down," said her mother. "I didn't see a single sign of a frown the last time you went off to Europe,"

"That's because I was only gonna be away for two months, or not even," she explained.

"Don't worry," her mother wrapped her arms around her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. "In a few months it will already be Christmas, and you can come home."

"If she even wants to come back," her father joked lightly.

"Don't worry about it Corrine, you're gonna have the time of your life in London," reassured Josie.

"And when you come back, we'll all still be here waiting for you," added Lucas.

Corrine's frown, seemed to vanish, as a huge smile took its place. She truly had a great set of friends, who were always going to be there for her. And she was truly grateful for their friendship.

"Well," she said, putting on a brave smile. "I should really get going," She gave the airport one last look, in hopes to find that familiar face appear before her, but with no success she sighed, and promised herself, she wouldn't let it ruin her trip.

"You take good care of yourself Corrine," came Lucas.

"And don't forget to write us," reminded Josie.

"Everyday," added her mother with much emphasis.

Corrine smiled, and promised she'd do what they'd asked. Then slid her slightly shaky fingers under the handle of her carryon. As she turned around, getting ready to say her goodbyes, her heart literally stopped, when she noticed who had walked through the automatic doors.

-  
Okay, so it's pretty obvious who it was right? But I still had to cut it off until the next chapter.


	4. Ch4 Goodbyes and Hellos

Odd Couples  
Ch. 4: Goodbyes and Hellos

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! You guys are the reason why I have kept up with this fic.Please continue to show your interest.**

-------------------

"You made it," she exclaimed rushing over to him as if nothing happened between them.

"I've been thinking, Corrine," he said as he tightly embraced her.

"Yeah?" she looked up expectantly, only find her lips captured by his.

The kiss said everything he wanted to, but couldn't. And Corrine understood it was his way of letting her go. When they finally pulled away, Marshall leaned into her ear. "I love you," he whispered, and he truly meant it with all his heart.

-------------------

Corrine, managed to say all of her goodbyes without shedding one tear. And as she stood before the gate entrance, she looked back at the five most important people in her life, and smiled knowing when she'd return they'd always be there for her. She breathed out sharply, pasted on a genuine smile, and waved her final goodbye, and walked through the gates, ready to tackle her new life.

-  
"No, she's just a friend," he insisted.

"Well, she knows your gonna be there?" his friend asked.

Vaughn sighed. He didn't know how many times he had already explained all this to his roommate. Too many to count. "No, I thought it'd be a nice surprise." he answered.

"Well, what if she doesn't recognize you?"

"She will," he answered icily. He glanced at the clock, and was thankful to know it was just about time for him to leave. "Well, I gotta get going," he said, as he grabbed his keys from the counter.

"Want me to come with you man?" asked his friend.

"No, you gotta go to class," he reminded. "See you later," and happily closed the door behind him.

He was actually excited to see Corrine. They never had the closest or the best relationship, but she was still a friend. Corrine was always around, and it was a relief to know that something was at least consistent in his life.

He bounded down the stairs two steps at a time, out of habit. Even if he wasn't rushing, he found himself skipping steps on the stairs, just to get to the bottom faster. "Good morning," he greeted a woman who was coming from the opposite direction. She was old, he noticed, and wearing a hat, and a coat, although it was nowhere cold out.

The old woman smiled back, "Good morning," and pulled something out of the paper bag she had been carrying. It was a white rose, and handed it to Vaughn.

"Thank you," he said taking the flower from the woman's delicate fingers. Never before had he received a rose, and he never imagined his first one to be from an elder woman.

When he got to the bottom he pushed the door with his hand, and immediately felt the warm sun rays hit his face. It was a perfect day; he had no classes, and his friend would soon be arriving. He figured he'd take Corrine around, show her a few places, though he doubted she'd need a guide, since she spent her whole summer touring Europe already. She probably knew her way around better than he did. Just like Corrine to be perfect at everything.

His car was parked on the corner of the street. And after climbing in and setting the rose in the cup holder, he slid his key into the ignition, and sped off into the direction of the airport.

-------------------

Corrine pulled the last of her luggage off the conveyor belt. She looked around, not sure what to do next. Although she clearly knew, getting settled in her new apartment was probably her best bet. She pulled out her wallet from her purse, making sure she had money for cab fare. After confirming, she pulled out the handles and with confidence walked off towards the front, her luggage rolling behind her.

As she neared the lobby, her eyes landed on Vaughn and a very big smile quickly found its way to her lips. "Vaughn?" she asked her self, as she quickened her pace. He met her half way, with a big grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, letting go of the handles and letting them drop on the floor.

"Surprise?" he said matter of factly. Bending down to give her a hug. "I thought I'd come by to pick you up."

"You didn't have to," she stated.

She watched as he bended over half way, to pick up her luggage. "I know, but I thought it'd be nice. You know, you wouldn't have to be alone on your first day, like I was--trust me, it's not very fun" he explained.

She could only smile back in response. It was probably the nicest thing he has ever done for her.

He made a face like he just remembered something important. "This is for you," he pulled something out of his back pocket. It was the white rose. "Welcome to London," he said in his best imitated tourist guide voice.

-------------------

"So how's everyone since I left?" asked Vaughn as he stuffed the last of her bags into the back trunk.

Corrine gave it some consideration before finding the right answer. "They're all good," she said, but forgot to mention the part 'besides Josie, who's been a total wreck since you left her, and Lucas who's been acting like a complete stranger whenever she was around'. But she figured, he didn't need to know all that.

"That's good to hear," he said giving his trunk a final push to close it tight. He walked to the passenger's side, and opened the door for Corrine, who stared in awe at his gesture. "What?"

"Oh nothing," she answered sliding in to the seat, and watched as he shut her door, and made his way around to his.

"So, where to?" he asked, backing out of the parking space.

He watched her from the corner of his eyes, as she rummaged through her purse. She pulled out a piece of yellow paper that was folded way more than necessary. "Here," she said holding out the paper with an address scribbled on. Vaughn studied the writing, before realizing where it was.

They left the parking lot in silence, though it wasn't the kind of awkward or uncomfortable silence you'd think of.

"Thanks for the rose," said Corrine five minutes into the ride. She stared down at the single white flower between her fingers.

"You're welcome," he felt a little guilty that the rose hadn't really been from him.

"I've never gotten a white rose before, well aside from my parents," she then explained. "They're my favorite, so I really appreciate it." she smiled up at him.

"What about Marshall?" he found him self asking. It was a little too hard to for him to believe that she had never gotten a white rose before. Marshall had probably given her thousands.

"He thought they were a hassle to look for, although I can tell you right now they aren't rare or anything. So he'd usually give me the red ones." she said it in a kind of sad tone, that made Vaughn feel sympathetic towards her.

"Wow, I always thought he was the perfect boyfriend," he said.

"No, he in't perfect, but he is a really great guy,"

"So why did you break up with him then?" he took a glance at her, and she returned it with a puzzled look.

"How did you know, it just happened last night?" she asked, brushing his question aside.

He gave a chuckle before answering, "word travels fast," he didn't mention the part of Marshall calling him up to ask him to keep a good eye on Corrine. 'Take care of her for me,' he remembered Marshall saying before they hung up.

"Obviously," she simply said, and went to looking out the window, smiling at all the familiar places.

"So, you still didn't answer my question?" came Vaughn a minute later.

"What?"

"Why did you do it, if he was such a great guy?"

"The distance, it wouldn't work, you know?" she looked over at him, but he kept his eyes glued on the road. "What's you're reason?" she asked in a joking tone, as if there wasn't any other reason but hers.

When Vaughn didn't respond, the cheery mood, seemed to dwindle down and Corrine went back to look out the window, feeling as if she said something wrong.

"Let's just say, it wasn't that reason," he finally said.

She looked at him, her mouth parted, ready to say something, but when she noticed what they arrived to, her words went missing, and she was literally speechless.

They pulled up to a shabby two story building. It was without doubt old, and without any proper maintenance. The roof sagged in, a few blocks of bricks were missing from the side, two shutters hung crooked, and there were absolutely no signs of vegetation.

"Where are we?" she asked when she came to.

"Welcome home?" he said unsurely.

She opened her door, and quickly stepped out. Vaughn followed suit.

Corrine looked around in shock, before pulling out yet another peice of folded paper from her purse.

"This can't be it," she declared, as she unfolded the paper. "it looks nothing like the photo," she held up the picture to the building to compare.

Vaughn stepped behind her examining the photo and the real thing. He chuckled after taking a look.

"What?" Corrine asked, turning around sharply.

"Let me guess, you got this from the internet," he gave the photo a flick with his finger.

"So?"

"So, I hope you didn't pay to live in this shit hole,"

She glared up at him, and he noticed his mistake. "I meant, dump." he corrected himself. He had to watch his language more often, now that Corrine was around.

"Maybe it's better inside," she suggested walking up to the front door.

"I doubt it," he said, but she kept walking anyway ignoring his reply.

He looked over at the barren property noting the very dead grass, just as an idea came into mind. "Corrine," he ran up a few steps to catch up with her and placed a hand on her arm. She looked up at his touch. "Come on," he tugged gently, hinting to the car. She looked up at the building and sighed before complying to his wishes.

-  
Hoped you like this chapter. Please review!


	5. Ch5 Changes

Odd Couples  
Ch. 5: Changes

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! You guys are the reason I have kept writing.**

-------------------

"Where are we going?" she asked buckling herself under the seatbelt.

"I know a place where you can stay," he explained.

"Really? I hope it's nothing like that one." she pointed at the old building they just left behind.

"Trust me, it's not. That's why I wouldn't trust the internet. Apartments are something you should look at for yourself," he said in all truthfulness. "I'd ask for my money back, if I were you."

That's what she would need to do if she had already made payments. But thankfully the landlady said she'd give her the first month free. So there was no money to get back. "I didn't pay for it yet," she replied.

"That's good,"

She watched him with a smile. This was truly not the Vaughn she knew. The Vaughn she remembered knowing wouldn't have come to pick her up, or given her a rose, or opened her door, or even suggest a different place for her to stay. And the only time they would see each other was by chance on the street. 'He's changed,' Corrine thought to herself.

Vaughn glanced over and caught her staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"You're just really different, that's all," she explained focusing her attention now on the road. "It's like you're a different person."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded her head.

-------------------

"What▓s this place?" she asked examining the red building that they arrived at.

"My apartment," he simply answered.

She looked at him questioningly. It was the kind of look that screamed an explanation.

"What?"

"I can't stay with you," she declined.

"Sure you can, there's an extra bed" he paused. "I'm not saying it'll be permanent or anything. Just until you find a decent place."

"That's really nice of you, Vaughn, but, I mean, I guess, if it won't be any trouble..."

"It's not. I mean, maybe Greg might flip out about having' a girl around. But other than that it's no trouble." He noticed she was giving him that look again. He knew what was coming, so before she could even ask he cleared it up. "Greg's my roommate."

She gave her head a nod. "And he'll flip out, why?"

"Well, let's just say he hasn't got any luck with the ladies," he looked over at her noticing her lips curl into a small amused smile. "So, ready?"

"Yeah," she breathed.

He climbed out of the car, and walked to the other side to open Corrine's door. She smiled, noting how gentlemanly he had become over the short span of a month. Living in London must have taught him something she then concluded. She stood aside watching him unload her bags from the trunk, she reached out to lend a hand, but he only insisted that he had it under control.

"C'mon," he said. Pulling her luggage behind him, he walked up to the front door holding it open for Corrine.

"Thanks," she said as she passed through.

"Third floor," he said as he began to drag her luggage up the flight of stairs.

"Do you guys have an elevator," she wondered.

"No,"

-------------------

She stared at the shiny gold 8 nailed on the door, as Vaughn fumbled in his pocket for his keys. She could almost see a deformed version of her reflection on it's face. She heard the clang of two metals touching and the turn of a knob, and looked up to see the door before her open, to reveal a startlingly spacious apartment.

"Wow, this is huge," Corrine exclaimed walking in. She pictured the apartment to be small and crowded, but it turned out anything but. There was a moderate sized kitchen to the left of the door, and the rest was a very spacious and open room. A single black leather couch, a TV, and coffee table were arranged in the far back near the windows. There was a small dining table right of the kitchen, and a shiny metal sculpture stood high on a stand next to the entry. There were also several doors--three to be exact--two lining one wall, and the other on the opposite.

Vaughn dragged in her luggage leaving them just beside the entrance. He closed the door behind him, and dropped his keys on the counter. "Not really, it just looks that way since we don't have much furniture." he explained.

"I like it, it's very minimalistic," she stroked the very modern looking sculpture, feeling its cool metal surface.

"That's Greg's," Vaughn informed. "he's very artsy fartsy, though you'd never expect that from him. You want anything to drink?" he moved over to the kitchen.

"No, I▓m good," she answered. "Oh, where will I be staying?"

"Right. I almost forgot." He quickly paced to the door that stood alone on the wall. "You can stay in my room," he opened the door exposing a surprisingly clean and well organized room. "cleaned up for you," he turned his head to flash her a quick smile.

"I thought you had an extra bed,"

"Yeah, it's in Greg's room. I mean, if you feel more comfortable staying there simply because it's 'the extra bed', you can, I just figured--"

"Oh, no, I just don't want to be too much trouble," she slightly shook her head.

She heard Vaughn chuckle. "Corrine, would you stop. You're not any trouble at all. I'm glad you're here," She couldn't help but smile at the last of his words. Someone was glad to have her around, it was a nice feeling. "So, what will it be?"

She smiled, and brushed pass him through the open door, claiming his room. "Okay," he said in finality.

-------------------

Vaughn had brought in her things to his room, and left her there to unpack and do whatever it was she needed to do. Afterwards he sprawled himself on the couch, and unwittingly dozed off.

He woke up to the sound of his cell ringing, which had fallen from his pocket to the floor. He picked it up, and glanced down at the caller. Instead of a name, a series of unfamiliar numbers were displayed. Dismissing the call, he tossed his cell beside him on the couch, hearing the muted thump it made as it hit the leather. Feeling as though he slept through the remainder of the afternoon, he quickly checked the time. He had napped for a little over an hour.

He got up, thinking to check up on Corrine, and maybe ask her if she wanted to join him for an extremely late lunch.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," he heard her yell out.

He found her sitting cross legged on his bed, hunched over a pile of papers, with a pen loosely gripped between her fingers. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"Writing letters," she answered.

"Already?" he asked with surprise. "To who?"

"My parents, and the guys back home. They want me to write every day,"

He immediately thought of Josie, though it didn't trigger any feelings, as it could have had only several months earlier. "Tell them I said hi,"

She looked up at him, and smiled. "Okay,"

He hesitated for a moment before finally asking. "I was also thinking," he started off, "maybe you wanna go grab a bite to eat?" he asked hoping she'd accept his offer, relieving him from his usual lonely meals.

"You know, that sounds like a great idea," she dropped her pen on the bed, as she stretched her arms out.

"The bathroom is right across, if you want to take a shower," he pointed behind him.

"I know, I already took one while you were napping,"

"Okay," he didn't know what else to say, and so he turned around and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind him, leaving her to get ready.

-  
Yeah, sorry for the longer than usual wait for this chapter. I've been kinda out of it, but now I'm back in, and the next update should hopefully be sooner than later.


	6. Ch6 The Hill

Odd Couples  
Ch. 6: The Hill

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing.**

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"'Wonder how Corrine's doing?" Lucas asked.

But his question was answered with silence.

"I bet she's doing fine, Lucas," he answered himself, when Marshall didn't. He looked up at his friend who appeared to be lost in his own world in the middle of a cafe. "Yo, Marshall?" he waved a hand hoping to catch his attention. But when that failed, he softly slapped the back of his palm on his cheek, and watched his friend come to. "Nice to have you back,"

"Sorry, Lucas," he apologized.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Marshall picked up his drink to sip at it, but then noticed he had already drained the remains. "I think I need a refill though,"

Lucas watched as his friend walk over to the counter, and order another drink, which would become his third since they arrived half an hour ago. He returned a minute later with his hand clasped around the cafe's signature monogrammed Styrofoam cup. "So what were we talking about, again?" he asked as he seated himself.

"We weren't. I was," Lucas corrected.

"Sorry," he apologized again.

He studied the figure sitting before him: a sleep deprived, messy, out of it looking guy, sipping endlessly at a highly caffeinated drink. Whoever this was, it surely wasn't his best friend Marshall.

"Marshall, are you okay?" asked Lucas again. "If you want to talk, I'm right here."

"Yeah, no, I mean, I'm fine," Marshall gave his hand a wave in the air as if to dismiss the subject.

Lucas didn't buy it. Ever since Corrine left--which was only last night--Marshall hadn't been acting himself. Maybe it was the fact that he and Corrine were no longer the perfect couple, or maybe it was her being thousands of miles away, but Lucas concluded it was a little bit of both. He honestly felt sorry for his best friend, he couldn't even imagine what he must be feeling. He let his eyes wander to the Styrofoam cup sitting on the table, not knowing what else to do. He zig zagged his eyes through the monogram like a maze, until a voice caught him off guard. It was Marshall.

"You and Josie still not talking?" he asked, finally starting a conversation.

"No," Lucas sighed sadly. He tried not to bring it up, since his silly problem with Josie couldn't even compare to Marshall's. But he answered without hesitation.

Marshall nodded, took hold of his drink again, and leaned back against the chair, almost withdrawing from the short conversation. Lucas watched him and rolled his eyes. He understood Marshall was going through a bit of a tough time, but he couldn't help but be a little irritated at his inability to hold a simple conversation.

-------------------

The loud taps of Corrine's shoes on the stairs echoed in the foyer. She slowed her pace, and eased each foot down slowly, as to reduce the noise she made.

Vaughn, who was several steps ahead, looked back at her. "Heels, Corrine?"

"No, they're flats," she corrected.

"Flats?"

"You know like ballet flats?"

He took a glance back again, eyeing the ballerina type shoe that hugged her feet. "For a minute there I thought Miss Corrine Baxter had been wearing heels," he teased.

"I wear heels," she defended herself "...just not often,"

"Not often meaning never," he opened the door, holding it open for her.

She let that hang in the air. She didn't know how to respond. She had worn heels before, so it's not like she'd never worn them, she just preferred other shoes. "So where we eating?" she asked, quickly changing subjects.

"I don't know, wherever you want. I don't really mind."

As they neared the corner, Vaughn dug into his pocket pulling out his keys. Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his arm, and looked up to see Corrine.

"Let's walk," she said, pulling him in the other direction away from the car.

"Yeah, okay," he pocketed his keys back, and followed Corrine.

-------------------

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes, until a phone went off to the sound of The Fray.

"Yeah," Marshall answered, glancing in Lucas's direction. He gave his head a few nods, "I'll be there," He closed his phone, and set it back down on the table.

Lucas stared down at the phone, waiting to see if Marshall would tell him who he was talking to.

"Josie," said Marshall.

"What?" Lucas asked with surprise.

"That was Josie," he answered "wanted to know if I could give her a ride."

Lucas felt his heart throb with pain, that she'd ask Marshall and not him. All the times before it was him that Josie always went to--after Vaughn. But being that they weren't even on speaking terms, he shouldn't have been surprised, but he couldn't help but be that anyway. But other than surprise, he felt a tinge of jealousy too. "Oh," he replied.

"You want to take her?" came Marshall a few seconds later.

The question caught him off guard. 'Where did that come from?' Lucas asked himself. He glared at Marshall across the table.

"Your looking at me like I shot you," he explained. "Look, its not that big of a deal Lucas. You can take her, if you want."

Lucas hadn't realized he had been giving Marshall a hateful look. He shook his head. "I couldn't even if I wanted. She wouldn't want me there."

"So, use the time to work things out. You've been a wreck lately," Marshall suggested. He noticed Lucas's lips curl into a smile, and finally break into a snicker. "What?!"

"I've been a wreck?" he asked. "You should look in the mirror Marshall. You haven't been in the best condition either,"

Marshall glared at him for a few good seconds before cracking into laughter along with Lucas.

-------------------

The sky hovered above them in the nicest shade of blue Corrine had ever seen, with big, white, billowy clouds, that floated ever so slowly. It was the kind of day that made you smile, and that was exactly what Corrine and Vaughn were doing.

Vaughn had caught up with her sometime earlier, and now the pair were walking side by side chatting about this and that--nothing really in particular. And at one point, Vaughn had made a remark that got Corrine laughing for a straight minute.

"You know," started Corrine "I've really missed this place,"

Vaughn nodded his head. "Yeah, one heck of a place to miss,"

She detected a slight hint of sarcasm in his reply. "I'm serious," she said.

"So am I," he insisted.

Corrine didn't say anything, and Vaughn looked over at her to see what had gotten her quiet all of a sudden. She was gazing into the window of the shop they were passing by, and he could clearly make out her reflection. She noticed him looking at her, and turned her head away from the window.

"It's weird," she said calmly.

"What is?" he asked, when she didn't continue.

"Well, you gotta let me finish!" she exclaimed with a joking tone, slapping him playfully on the arm.

"Okay, sorry,"

"Marshall and I only spent two days here, but I knew on the first day that I wanted to live here," she explained.

He kept walking, waiting for her to say more, but his ears were only met with silence. He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off abruptly, even before he could say a single word.

"Do you like it here?" she asked him

"Surprisingly, I do," he answered. "I guess it's grown on me,"

"Marshall didn't really like it here, he couldn't wait to get back home. I don't think he had a very good summer," she said this in sad tone.

He pondered at her words for a long second. The way she sounded made it seem as if she was unhappy when she and Marshall were together, or at least when they were together in Europe. He noticed she grew considerably silent again, no doubt in thought of her ex back home. She looked sad, and he didn't like it very much. He wanted to see her smiling, and laughing like she was only a few moments ago.

"You wanna see something?" he asked her, hoping to get her mind off Marshall, and their friends back home.

"Okay?" she answered unsurely.

"C'mon,"

She pictured him taking her up some hill with a breath taking view of the city, just like in all the movies. Most of them, at least, where the guy would usually take the girl up a hill and confess to her some deep, dark, usually embarrassing secret, or propose his love for her. Not that she wanted Vaughn to love her in that type of way, and not that she loved him that way either--they were just friends--but she still expected to be brought up that hill, so she could pretend to be that girl in the movies.

He didn't bring her up a hill or a mountain, or anything with a view. Instead she was greeted by two golden arches.

-------------------

I shouldn▓t make promises regarding the arrival of chapters, since I obviously can't keep them. I'm sorry this one took a awhile. I'll try not to take too long for the next update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! and please review.


	7. Ch7 Corrine Avenue

Odd Couples  
Ch. 7: Corrine Avenue

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing.**

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"So, you want to go, or should I?" asked Marshall.

Lucas sat there quickly reviewing his options. They were, A: Go and try to fix things, but risk making it even worse or B: Let Marshall go, and loose a perfectly good chance of making things right between them. After a second or two, he looked up. "Wish me luck!" he said grabbing his keys from the table.

"Good luck!" called out Marshall.

Lucas turned around. He truly felt bad having to leave just when Marshall started to act normal again.

-------------------

Corrine stared at the world famous sign before her, thinking it was the farthest thing she ever thought Vaughn wanted to show her. She was obviously mistaken. "McDonalds?" she asked. "You wanted to show me McDonald's?"

"What? No!" He took hold of her shoulders and guided her to the right. "Look,"

Corrine did what she was asked, but only saw a bunch of buildings, and nothing out of the ordinary. "I'm looking, but I'm not seeing anything."

"Just look around the corner, and you'll see it," he insisted.

Again, Corrine looked, and she still couldn't find anything. She huffed in frustration, and turned around. "Okay, Vaughn just show me."

"The street," he smiled. "The sign,"

She looked up at the street sign, and noticed immediately. "Corrine Avenue," she read, and a smile quickly spread across her face.

"I found this one day, while I was having lunch," he began "at McDonald's." at that Corrine burst into laughter. He didn't mean it to be funny, but if it made Corrine happy, it didn't really matter. He smiled along with her. "I thought it'd take your mind off Marshall," he added truthfully.

"That was really nice of you Vaughn," she said laying a hand on his shoulder, before walking off. "And, I'd say it did more than just that."

"Wait, where are you going?" he asked watching her make her way to the McDonald's.

"I thought we were having lunch?"

-------------------

On the walk to her door, Lucas rehearsed his apology over and over again. It sounded perfect, but he knew once he was standing in front of her, he would definitely screw it up.

Ding dong.

After a few seconds, which lasted an hour to Lucas, the door opened, and came the voice of Josie.

"Thanks again Marshall, I really app--" she ended there as she looked up too see the person she was least expecting. She bit her lip, to keep herself from saying anything. She didn't understand why it was Lucas standing outside her door looking like an idiot, when it was Marshall she called. She looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

Lucas stood there motionless, feeling out of place like a palm tree in the dead winter. His palms were damp, his eyes avoided Josie and his practiced apology refused to come out. He opened his mouth, hoping anything would come out, but to no avail.

Josie rolled her eyes. "Where's Marshall?" she asked.

He quickly glanced at her direction, but looked away a second later afraid to make eye contact. "Actually, that▓s why I'm here. He, he had to do something," he finally said.

"Great," she breathed. "Now I don't have a ride," 'and I bet you're hoping I'd let you give me one, so we can have another one of our fantastic conversations,' she then thought sarcastically.

Josie stood there waiting for Lucas to speak, but once again he failed to even open his mouth. "Is that all?" she asked coldly, preparing to close the door on him, if he failed to answer again.

"I can give you a ride?" he finally asked.

Josie found him looking more out of place than before. She almost found herself saying yes, out of pity, but caught herself. "No, that's okay. I want to walk anyway," she answered, and began to gently shut the door even before Lucas could reply.

Lucas stared at the white rectangle gradually filling in the space between them, and separating him from Josie. He could have reached forward and stopped it from closing any further, and then he'd recite his planned speech, and mend their friendship. But he didn't. He couldn't.

-------------------

Corrine climbed out of bed after sticking the very last stamp onto the manila envelope. She dropped it onto the side table, hoping she'd remember to get it mailed in the morning before dropping by her new college.

She sat herself on the edge of her bed and yawned, as she felt sleep overcome her. It had been one lovely long day, full of surprises of all sorts. Vaughn's "late lunch" turned dinner, especially took a toll on her body. She remembered after walking off to McDonald's Vaughn ran after her, pulling her arm. 'I had another place in mind,' he had said, then escorted her out back into the streets. They roamed all over London. They visited a park, where they fed a paddling of ducks, a museum, and Corrine's favorite, upscale boutiques. It was close to eight when they finally settled down at a cozy, and expensive looking restaurant. Corrine couldn't help a smile as she reminisced about her day. But unwittingly, she was smiling more because of Vaughn than anything else.

She woke up the next morning to the rays of the sun hitting her face. If it wasn't for the unfamiliar light fixture hanging above her, she would have still thought she was sleeping in her own bed. Back at home with all her family and friends, and Marshall. She rolled over on her side to face the alarm clock. It read 8:32. 'Vaughn must already be up,' she thought.

After getting up, she walked herself out of the room to the kitchen. She heard the clanking of what sounded like spoons, and the liquid sound of water pouring into a glass, so she figured it must have been Vaughn. But as she turned the little corner, it wasn't Vaughn's blonde head she saw sticking up from behind the fridge. Instead it was dark brown, even almost black. Then she realized it couldn't have been anyone else but Greg.

"Good morning," greeted Corrine.

The fridge door slowly closed, and revealed behind it Vaughn's roommate, clad in nothing but boxer shorts. Corrine's eyes traveled the length of him, noting his thick dark patch of hair irresistibly tousled from sleep. His eyes were unmistakably blue, and his skin the perfect shade between a roasted almond and hazelnut. 'And this guy has no luck with girls?' she asked herself almost disbelieving Vaughn's words. Corrine unconsciously stared at his sculpted torso, trying to ignore the glass of orange juice that prevented her from seeing the full picture. She was lost in though, that she had not realized he had returned her greeting.

"Good morning," he said again, this time it finally reached her.

She looked up, with a feeling of embarrassment. 'Stop it,' she scolded herself. "I'm Corrine," she stuck out her hand.

"I know," he said reaching out to give her hand a shake. "I'm Greg, nice to finally meet you,"

"Ditto," She gave him a smile, then looked around the kitchen. The counters were completely clear of any utensils, plates, cups, or breakfast.

"If you want breakfast," Greg began as if reading Corrine's mind, "we don't have any."

"Oh. Actually, I was wondering if Vaughn was up yet?" she asked.

"You just missed him," he motioned to the door with a nod. "He has class today,"

Corrine lowered her head, hiding a disappointed expression. Although she tried not to, she couldn't help but hope Vaughn had more surprises for her up his sleeve. But he went off to class, and she would be stuck all by herself for most of the day. "I was sorta counting on him to come with me to my school today," she lifted her chin up and smiled. "That's okay," and made an about face, happily walking off back to Vaughn's room.

"I can go with you," she heard him call out. "...if you want me to,"

She paused, as she lingered on his words, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She wanted to turn around, and yell out, 'yes, please come with me!'. but instead she stood there, her back to him.

"I mean, I don't have any classes today. And since Vaughn obviously can't go, I'd be happy to take his place," he explained. "I'm sure he wouldn't want you running around town alone,"

She pretended to consider his offer, even though she already knew what she wanted to say. "That would be nice," she finally replied, turning around to meet his gaze.

-------------------

I hope you guys enjoyed another chapter. Sorry it was cut short, and sorry for the wait. Again, please review.


	8. Ch8 Holding Hands

Odd Couples  
Ch. 8: Holding Hands

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing.**

-------------------

"So...how'd it go with Josie?" asked Marshall with a wide grin as he watched his friend walk up the path.

Marshall was sitting on the same bench at the same park he was at last night with Z. After Lucas left the cafe, he also left feeling he needed some fresh air, and maybe another encounter with his former teacher.

Lucas didn't say a word as he sat himself in the empty seat, a strong air of disappointment radiating from him. "It was horrible," he finally confessed with a frown.

"What happened?" Marshall asked with genuine concern.

"I'm an idiot," he breathed into the sky. "that's what." he had the urge of throwing a punch to the bench, thinking it would do him good to release some of the anger he bottled up. But he didn't.

-------------------

Corrine was spending the morning with Greg, who kindly offered to accompany her to the post office. She remembered feeling giddy at the thought of him escorting her around, and secretly wished Vaughn would stay out for the entire day. But Greg had already promised her he'd be back a little after lunch.

"Royal Holloway, huh?"

They were just now pulling up the driveway, and Corrine could make out the school's bell tower peeking through some scattered trees. She couldn't wait to lay her eyes on the historic college that she had up until now only seen on paper.

"Yeah,"

"So what're you majoring in?"

"Well, I'm working my way up to becoming a neurologist," Because her dad was a brain surgeon, people were always thinking her parents pushed her in the direction of neurology, but in actuality she had made up her own mind that she wanted to become a surgeon.

"That's right," he waved a finger in the air. "Vaughn said you're quite the genius, aren't you?"

"He did?" she asked almost in disbelief. It was truly un Vaughn like, and the thought of him mentioning her to someone else with out any obligations made her more than smile. She laid a hand furtively on her chest, and furrowed her brows questioning herself what had come over her. Her hear was beating just a little faster.

"Yeah Ms. Valedictorian," he smiled in her direction.

She smiled back for a second before the scenery outside the window stole her attention. They were closely approaching the palatial red structure, and Corrine could already make out much of the ornate detailing that paper failed to do. The anticipation the building roused in her temporarily pushed aside her thoughts of Vaughn.

"You can go ahead, while I look for a place to park," Greg said as he pulled up to the courtyard entrance. "I'll meet you there."

She stepped out of the car grabbing her bag and a paper folder along with her. After watching Greg take off, she turned around and stared up the college looming over her. After taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way under the arched opening, taking in every aspect of the building.

The courtyard was just as she imagined it--brilliantly green. The grass stretched out the entire length, with only several strips of concrete cutting paths through the otherwise untouched block of grass. A border of picnic tables lined one end, and in the center of it all stood a stone statue. Eager to take a photo of the scenery before her, Corrine dug into her purse as she continued to stroll through the courtyard.

She didn't pay very much attention to her path as her mind was set one finding her camera, and had suddenly collided into something. She heard the thud of a book falling into the grass and looked up to find a girl glaring unpleasantly in her direction.

"I am so sorry," Corrine apologized as she dropped to her knees to pick up the girl's book.

"You must be new," the girl said dryly eyeing Corrine with loathe.

"Actually I am. I'm Corrine" She introduced herself and kindly handed the book back, but the girl ignored her outstretched hand.

"And I'm not taking that," she said frostily in her English accent. "You don't expect me to carry that book around now that it's covered in dew," She was about the same height as Corrine, but her attitude and fine-tuned features made her no less intimidating than a giant.

Corrine stood before her not knowing exactly how to react. Hesitantly, she stretched out her sweater sleeve ready to wipe away the moisture from the book. But an unexpected hand wrapped protectively around her waist startling her. The book escaped her hands and fell once again onto the grass.

"There you are," a male voice said, as the hand wrapped around her tighter.

The girl eyed Corrine and the mystery guy nastily. "You better pick that up," she ordered.

Everything seemed to be moving in fast-forward and Corrine became lost trying to figure out what was happening, and who was behind her. She turned around knowing it could have only been Greg, but the one person she was imagining and expecting to see was no where near.

"I missed you," Greg whispered audibly into Corrine's ear as she turned around, making sure the other girl could hear him. He saw her roll her eyes.

Even though the words had clearly come from Greg, she still imagined it coming from someone else. After a moment to push off her thoughts of Vaughn, Corrine caught on. "I missed you too," she whispered back.

After realizing the book was still on the ground, she began to bend down. But Greg caught her hand in his before it reached the ground. "We're going to be late," he reminded, pulling her away. The girl glared back at them as they walked off.

Corrine left the scene without any regret for not picking up the girl's book.

"Better watch out for that one," he warned jokingly.

-------------------

Class had dragged on, and Vaughn was feeling particularly happy it finally came to an end. He was tired of lectures and starved for skipping breakfast, and the only thing he wanted to do was get home and reclaim the few hours of sleep school had deprived him. But then he remembered Corrine. She would be without a doubt waiting for him back at the apartment. He smiled unconsciously at the thought of her heelless shoes tapping loudly against the stairway. That had been the first time he had ever seen her look so girly.

When he arrived at the door he expected to see her waiting patiently on the couch, but he found that she wasn't there, nor was she in his room. Even the roommate who claimed he had nowhere to be was gone, leaving the apartment silent and feeling quite lonely.

'Maybe he took her instead,' he concluded, as he discarded his jacket on the sofa. Then he too landed himself on the leather cushions, deciding to take a quick nap.

The sound of the door opening stirred him from his sleep. They were back.

"I actually feel sorta ba..." Corrine's voice trailed off when she noticed Vaughn wake up from his afternoon slumber. "Hey Vaughn!"

Vaughn waved his hand, and attempted a sleepy greeting, but failed horribly when he noticed their interlaced fingers. "Uh, what are you guys doing?" he questioned rapidly.

Corrine immediately looked down at her and Greg's hand and chuckled. Vaughn raised an eyebrow. "It's a long story," she started pulling her hand away from Greg's. "He helped me out of a situation, and I'm helping him back,"

"And what exactly does hold--"

"Basically she was pretending to be my girlfriend so I could get Tonya to finally leave me alone," Greg interrupted, answering Vaughn's question. "And I'm telling you it worked like a charm."

Vaughn glanced over at Corrine who was setting down her bag on the dining table. A trace of jealousy glinted in his eyes at the thought of Greg calling her his girlfriend and lacing his fingers in hers. Covering up what small feelings he felt, he yawned and headed towards the bathroom. "That▓s awesome, man," he then called out.

-------------------

So I finally got around to another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, and I'm also hopping you'll review!


	9. Ch9 The Attic and The Date

Odd Couples  
Ch. 9: The Attic and the Date

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. And a very special thanks to xXxXbittersweetxtearsXx and Josie thank you for forever reading and reviewing the chapters.**

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ONE WEEK LATER

Marshall lay in his bed feeling quite sluggish despite his earlier energetic self. It was only mid afternoon, and he didn't have much to do, but stare up at his white ceiling.

The sound of The Fray cut through the silence of his room. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Marshall," answered the other end. It was Josie.

"Hey Josie," he greeted. "What's up?"

"I got a package from Corrine's mom just awhile ago. They're letters from Corrine, and I was thinking it'd be a good idea if we met up, or something," she said through the phone.

"Yeah, Okay," he replied coolly, although inside his heart was racing out of excitement. Corrine's letters have finally arrived and he couldn't wait to get his hands on his.

"And could you tell Lucas also?" Josie asked sounding a bit unsure.

"Couldn't you?" But his question was left unanswered just as he predicted. Even after a week, Josie and Lucas's grudge didn't go away. "Yeah, I'll tell him for you,"

He hung up afterwards only to open his phone back up to call Lucas. He knew Lucas wouldn't be too pleased to hear that he had agreed to meet up with Josie for him, but he wasn't going to personally deliver his letter to him, just because of some silly argument. Plus it was another chance for him to straighten things out with Josie, anyway.

"Hey," Lucas answered.

"I Just got a call from Josie," Marshall began, imagining Lucas tense up at her name. "she has the package from Corrine with all our letters in it. She wants to meet up,"

Lucas hesitated to answer wondering why she couldn't have called him herself. She had his number. He sighed knowing he couldn't go anyway. "I can't," he breathed.

"Why not?"

"My mom wants me to clean up the attic, and I already said I would," Lucas explained.

Marshall paused, as an idea popped into his head. "Can't we just come over?"

The idea seemed preposterous. 'I can't have her come over' he thought. He didn't have anything to hide, but she would certainly prove to be a big distraction. Despite his feelings toward Marshall's suggestion, he agreed to have them over. "Sure, I guess so,"

Lucas set his cell phone down on the counter, and picked up the empty box sitting on the kitchen floor. His mom specifically asked him to fill it up with the stacks of photos that had mysteriously accumulated in the attic.

On the way up the stairs he passed by the laundry room, and noticed his mom pulling out clothes from the dryer in her lemon yellow party dress and pearls. As if she had sensed his eyes on her, she looked up to the doorway and smiled. "The attic isn't going to clean itself up," she reminded.

"I know, I know," he groaned as he continued down the hall to the stairs.

"Oh Lucas," his mother called out.

He turned around and saw her head poking out of from the side of the door.

"Thank you,"

"No problem,"

When he reached the attic, he gave the knob a turn, walked in and unconsciously shut the door behind him. At the very sound of a click he realized his mistake. Throwing the box on the floor he hurriedly dashed forward, grabbing the door knob. He shook it violently hoping it would be miraculously repaired. But after reality finally dawned on him, he stared in silent horror at the broken door knob, cursing himself at his foolish mistake.

-------------------

Elizabeth smiled sweetly up at Vaughn. "I love them," she buried her nose in the flowers and pretended to inhale their fragrance, which she secretively hated. Then threw her arms around him, lingering longer than necessary.

"So, you ready then?" he asked as they pulled apart, and offered her his arm.

He was going on his very first date since he arrived in London, and he was feeling especially confident. He stole a sideways glance at his date, who he only met that morning. He bumped into her at the library and was immediately drawn into her the moment their eyes met, and he just had the urge to ask her out for dinner. And there they were, walking down a brightly lit street in London, arm in arm.

-------------------

Josie walked up the path to the Randall's front door, which suddenly opened, and exposed what looked like a big silver box with arms and legs. It turned out to be Lucas's dad carrying a gigantic silver wrapped present. She stepped off the path, to let Mr. Randall through. He didn't notice her.

"You need any help?" she then asked.

He first peered over the sides of the box, but realized whoever said it was standing behind him. "Oh ho ho, Josie. No thanks dear, good to see you though," he sounded breathless, and in a hurry. Josie watched him as he lifted the box into the back of the minivan. 'Must be one huge present,' she thought, then walked back up to the door, which was left wide open.

When she stepped through the entry, she could hear Mr. Randall honk the horn, and call out to his wife.

"I'm coming!" came the voice of Mrs. Randall. The sound of her heels clicking on their wooden floor. Josie stood by the stairwell, waiting for her to come by. Mrs. Randall would have missed her had she not turned around to call up to Lucas.

"Lucus honey," she began then noticed the girl standing patiently at the foot of the stairs. "Almost didn't see you standing there Josie,"

"I've been sort of invisible lately," she answered referring to her previous encounter with her husband.

Lucas's mom smiled. "Wish I could chat, but we're kinda running late for a wedding," she explained. "Could you tell Lucas we're leaving, and that I left some money on the kitchen counter for dinner?"

"Yeah," Josie nodded. "Uh...where is Lucas?"

"The attic. Up the stairs, turn left and it's the very last door," she smiled again, and then turned on her heels, quietly closing the front door with her.

Josie looked up the flight of stairs. She wondered if she should wait for Marshall to arrive before walking into the attic and being welcomed with awkward silence from Lucas. She breathed out sharply and fought the urge to wait. Feeling that she couldn't go any longer with the silence, she started for the stairs.

She quietly made her way to the end of the hall where she found the attic door tightly shut. She reached for the knob with slightly trembling hands and walked in. She cautiously shut the door behind her. Surprisingly what welcomed her was not silence.

"What's your problem?!" came Lucas sounding distressed.

"Excuse me? If you don't want me here, all you had to do was say so," she replied raising her voice to meet Lucas's. "Actually, you know what? I'm out of here,"

"Good luck," he said under his breath as he watched her make for the door.

-------------------

"Actually, I've lived here all my life," she answered.

The answer was obvious to Vaughn thanks to her accent, but he asked anyway since they were already running out of things to say. 'This is nice,' he thought sarcastically. They weren't even up to the dinner part of the date, and already he could tell the evening was going to go downhill.

There was another long awkward pause, that was just begging to be broken, but Vaughn couldn't think of anything else worth asking or saying. She was indeed a beauty on the outside, but what good was that if there was nothing inside, as Vaughn realized. Not once during their walk, had she ever made an attempt to start a conversation. She just hung onto his arm, and obediently answered him. She wasn't acting like the girl Vaughn met that morning.

"Have you ever been here?" Vaughn asked as they finally approached the chosen restaurant.

"No, this is my first time,"

'Of course,' he thought. "And you've lived here all your life?" he asked in pretend disbelief.

She giggled. And Vaughn smiled. He might not have been enjoying himself as much as he would've liked, but maybe once they got in, it'd get better.

The dinner went just as he was hoping, maybe even slightly better. She warmed up to him, and started to act like the girl he fell in a daze for just several hours earlier. He was even planning to ask her out again.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked playfully.

"I don't know. But if you're wondering if I'll be free..." she trailed off.

"Will you be?"

"I don't know, what do you have planned?" she reached across the table, and started playfully playing with Vaughn fingers.

He glanced down, and noticed Elizabeth's slender fingers over his. Her nails were painted a rich red, which was a nice contrast against her fair skin. "I thought we'd do lunch," he answered as he took her hand in his.

"Just lunch?" she asked with a teasing smile.

At that same moment, Vaughn's attention went to the entrance. A familiar head of hair had caught his eye, and he could clearly distinguish his room mate's voice trailing to their table. He quickly glanced around, trying to confirm his presumptions, with no avail.

Elizabeth tugged him back into their conversation. He gave a weak smile.


	10. Ch10 The Photo

Odd Couples  
Ch. 10: The Photo

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. And a very special thanks to xXxXbittersweetxtearsXx and Josie thank you for forever reading and reviewing the chapters.**

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"Why isn't this door opening?" asked Josie through gritted teeth as she tried to turn the knob for the fifth time.

Lucas looked up to watch her futile attempts to open the door. "It's broken," Lucas answered simply, and went back to rummaging through a box of brick-a-brack.

He remembered his mom fussing about getting the door fixed for years, and even though his dad promised to get it done "as soon as possible", the topic was sort of forgotten. And because of that, he too, forgot about it, until he heard the reminding click of the door locking him in.

Josie pounded her tiny fist against the door in frustration. "You could have warned me it was broken," she finally said surrendering to the broken door.

"Trust me I would have, but you came in and closed the door before I could really say anything," He had calmed down much to Josie's surprise.

He looked up, and for the first time in a long time, stared right into her eyes. She returned the look, but only for a brief moment. She tore herself away, and picked up the brown package she set on top of a box when she was attempting to pry the door open. "So I guess we're stuck here then, huh?"

"Yeah, at least until Marshall gets here," Lucas explained.

-------------------

Elizabeth tugged on his arm for a second time; he briefly turned around, gave her a smile, and once again diverted his attention back to the entrance.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, but instead of answering her, he pulled his hand away from hers, and pushed his chair back from the table. "Where are you going?"

The idea of Corrine and Greg bothered him, with unexplainable reasons why. It wasn't as if he had feelings for Corrine, or Greg for that matter, but imagining them together was very unsettling.

"The check," Vaughn answered rather hastily, all the while scanning the surrounding tables.

She looked up at him with a half confused smile. "We just asked for it a few minutes ago,"

"It's taking too long," he simply reasoned, "I'll be right back,"

He was off before she could tell him to stay and wait.

Vaughn walked briskly to the front in hopes that they might still be there waiting to be seated, but found that besides the employee standing behind the podium the entry was empty. He stood there for a minute, stalling his trip back to his date, but ultimately hoping to catch a glint of her hair, or the pleasant sound of her laughter. The employee eyed him suspiciously, and to avoid any questions, Vaughn decided it was about time to walk back.

As he turned around to head back to his table, that same familiar head of hair caught his eye, and instinctively changed his direction.

He found Corrine sitting alone at the table with her back not only to the door, but also to him. As far as he could see Greg was nowhere in sight, and Vaughn concluded he must have left for the bathroom. Standing awkwardly behind a decorative plant with suspicious eyes watching him, he eyed her conspicuously from several tables away. She was more dressed up than he had ever seen her, even more so than when she was wearing those flats that day and for a minute, he wondered if Greg was more worth dressing up for than he was. After watching her stalker-like for another minute, he decided to walk over and casually pretend to spot her on the way to the bathroom.

But suddenly at midstep, he realized how much he was acting like a fool. Hiding behind a plant, watching her from behind, pretending to bump into her, when he knew all along she was there. 'What am I doing, Why do I even care?' he asked himself turning back around. What did it matter to him if his roommate was on a date with one of his good friends? Or if his good friend dressed up more for his roommate than she had ever did from him? It didn't mean it meant anything, and besides he was on a date of his own with a girl he was honestly crazy over, and who was crazy over him. Corrine and Greg should be the least of his worries. But even so the thought of Corrine and Greg together kept creeping back.

On the way back to his table Vaughn spotted their waiter walking by with a small black leather case. Assuming it was their check; he walked up to him and very impolitely took it from his hands, and with a hoarse thank you walked away.

He tried his best to put on a genuine smile as he approached his waiting date. "Got it," he said triumphantly holding up the check book.

Elizabeth giggled. "You mean the check that I have right here?" she picked up the leather booklet sitting on the table and waved it across Vaughn's face.

Vaughn opened the book in his hands, and glanced down at the piece of paper inside. It was definitely not theirs. "Ooops," he said. And before he could turn around and return the book with an apology, the waiter came behind him looking very unhappy, and as politely as he could asked for the check back.

Vaughn smiled apologetically as he returned the book.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked with concern, when he didn't sit back down.

He nodded and let her hand slide into his when she reached out. "You ready?" he asked.

-------------------

"That's not exactly cleaning," Josie pointed out as she watched Lucas flip through stacks of photos. She felt it was okay to say something, and hopefully it would help kick start a conversation. Because whether or not they were friends again or not, the silence was unbearable.

He glanced up at her. "Really? I didn't know that," he remarked with bitter sarcasm then went back to work.

Josie was astonished at his rapid sarcastic response, and was ready to bite back, but bit her tongue before any of it could get out. She didn't want to argue anymore, she was honestly sick of it, and just wanted to forgive each other and go about life as it was before. She didn't say anything, but sat her self down next to Lucas.

She reached over and grabbed a small stack of old photographs and Lucas shot her a quizzical look that asked 'did I say you could look at those?' Josie felt a little hesitant and almost returned the photos back, when she happened to look down. It was a picture of Vaughn. It was taken in Professor Z's class, as Josie recognized from the background. He was smiling with his face all flushed and his shirt sleeves rolled up, and his hair messy as if he just ran his hand through it. But even despite his ridiculous appearance Josie couldn't help but smile as she recalled his handsome features.

Then she noticed Corrine--or half of her--off to the side of the photo, and was reminded of the reality of both their absence. The two of them were off somewhere in London, and Josie wondered if the two of them had anytime to hang out, oblivious to the fact that they lived under the same roof. 'They'd be a cute couple,' she admitted, ignoring the ache in her heart.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said softly bringing Josie back to reality.

-------------------

It feels as if it's been an eternity since I last posted a chapter, and I apologize for that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	11. Ch11 Dear Corrine

Odd Couples  
Ch. 11: Dear Corrine

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. And a very special thanks to xXxXbittersweetxtearsXx and Josie thank you for forever reading and reviewing the chapters.**

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"What," Josie asked.

"I said I'm sorry," he repeated looking up. "And you don't have to say sorry back,"

'Back?' Josie didn't feel she had anything to apologize for period, and wasn't even thinking of apologizing.

"Not that you did anything," he continued earning a smile and a nod from Josie. "But I'm sorry, and not just for that one day, I mean I'm sorry for everything," his apology was beginning to sound a little clichИ, like an overused movie line, but it was exactly what he wanted to say sorry for. He was tired of the ignoring and the silence, and he was almost sure she was too.

Josie smiled at him, setting down the photos on the floor. She searched her head for something decent to say, something that wouldn't ruin the mood. But it was already too late, Marshall ruined it first.

-------------------

Vaughn had declined Elizabeth's invitation into her apartment. He felt he had too much on his mind and had taken off, reminding her sweetly about their lunch date the next day with a kiss goodnight.

As he neared his own apartment he took notice of Greg's car, which was missing, removing any doubt to Vaughn's assumptions about Corrine and Greg. He looked up at the complex, and ran his hand through his hair. It wasn't too late to turn back and reconsider the invitation; it wasn't as if anyone was waiting for him to come home. After a moment of deliberation, he returned his keys into his pocket, and made his way back down the street, where Elizabeth's eyes danced in delight at the sight of his return and change of mind.

Back at his place, however, Corrine sat around a series of printed ads for apartments she and Greg found on the internet, waiting to consult Vaughn when he returned. But as the clock struck midnight, Corrine gave up waiting, and gathered the papers into a pile, and left for bed.

-------------------

There was silence again between Josie and Lucas, but this time it wasn't the same cold feeling silence. The two listened quietly for the sound of Marshall climbing the stairs, and when they finally heard the faint thud of his footsteps, excitement rose, until the footsteps went the other direction away from the attic.

"What▓s he doing?" whispered Josie, trying not to interrupt the quiet.

"I don't know," Lucas answered, still listening intently. "I don't think he knows we're in here,"

There was a short pause in which a crazy idea landed itself in Lucas's head.

"Wait," he said holding up a hand as if to stop time. "You didn't lock the door when my mom left?"

Josie looked at him questioningly. "Obviously, otherwise Marshall wouldn't have gotten up."

"No, I mean, how do we know that that's Marshall?" he started, "How do we know it's not some maniac?"

Josie rolled her eyes at his preposterous suggestion, "Really Lucas? A maniac?"

"Why not?" he asked.

"That's crazy," she reasoned.

"Exactly!" he practically spat out with excitement, then realized it wasn't the best situation to be yelling, and quieted down to a bare whisper, "They're maniacs of course it's crazy,"

Josie shook her head, and made her way to the little window parting the delicate lace curtains to peer below. "Okay Lucas, but what exactly would you call that," she smiled smugly down the glass.

He walked over and peered down into the street. There was a car parked in his driveway, and it wasn't just any car. "That's Marshall's car," he answered.

"Exactly."

-------------------

The next morning Vaughn stepped up to his apartment door to hear the muted sounds of a conversation drifting into the hallway. Dismissing it as a neighbor, he quietly slid his key into the door, and walked through gently shutting it behind him knowing Corrine and Greg were still sleeping. But as soon as the door shut, the conversation became more distinct.

He found Corrine and Greg sitting in their dining table, which they hardly ever used, talking and laughing over breakfast. The scene reminded him of the little encounter at the restaurant the night before. And wanting to desperately find out what she was laughing over he walked as quiet as possible, and had he not tripped over an invisible object he would have gone unnoticed.

Corrine was the first to notice his arrival, and looked up slightly smiling, and lacking any words to say. Vaughn smiled back, taking notice of the smallest hint of concern in her eyes, thinking they said everything she didn't. 'So she was worried,' he deducted stepping forward.

"Where have you been?" asked Greg teasingly, knowing exactly where he had been the night before.

Vaughn let the question hang in the air, as he felt it wasn't necessary to answer a question Greg already knew the answer to. But Corrine looked up expectantly waiting for his reply, and Vaughn fought the urge to answer. He didn't want to tell her he spent the night at Elizabeth's, though she knew well enough he went on a date with her last night. And not that it mattered if she knew anyway. But the look she was giving him, just made him want to answer. "What's to eat?" he asked quickly changing subjects.

"French toast," Corrine answered.

"She made them," added Greg proudly pointing to Corrine courtesy of his fork.

Vaughn turned to her, and without making a word stared into her brown eyes, which were shiny like two round polished marbles. Corrine felt naked under his scrutinizing eyes. But though she tried, she couldn't tear herself away from his gaze. "I didn't know you cook," he suddenly said, his gaze unwavering.

She quickly drew away, taking a sip from her glass. All the while Greg watched the two in bewilderment. "there's a lot you don't know about me," she said cheerfully, setting down her orange juice.

'I'd like to know them all,' he thought watching her.

"Help yourself, there's plenty," said Corrine and soon after excused herself, gathering her dishes. "I'll get that," Greg offered, getting up to take the plates from her hands.

Corrine smiled in response, and with a thank you walked off to Vaughn's room.

-------------------

Marshall spent most of the night at Lucas's helping him and Josie out with the cleaning he promised his mom he'd do. When he had arrived at the Randall's he had trouble finding them, and had even searched the entire second floor, until he finally remembered the attic. He found Lucas and Josie waiting for him expectantly as he opened the door with scattered piles of photos littering the floor behind them, piles which he had helped clean up before leaving. And he remembered being pushed up against the wall as the two of them ran wildly out like maniacs, and thanking God. After they had settled down it was both a surprise and a relief for Marshall to see Lucas and Josie speaking to each other. And when he finally got home he tore open the letter he had been dying to read, and spent the rest of the night thinking of his reply which he'd write in the morning.

He woke up to find himself still holding onto Corrine's letter, and still wearing last night's clothes. Cursing himself at his inability to stay awake long enough to at least change, he got up, carefully setting the paper on his dresser. He briefly glanced at his reflection and noticed immediately the dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. Then his eyes wandered to the picture frame sitting on the dresser. It was a picture of him and Corrine when they were still together. She looked so happy. He looked so happy. "Dear Corrine," he began planning out his letter aloud. "I miss you,"

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Okay, so the deal is, I think, next chapter will be all Corrine and Vaughn. I'm holding off with the Josie/Lucas/Marshall storyline at least for one chapter. So expect loads of Corrine and Vaughn interaction coming next.


	12. Ch12 Vaughn Decided

Odd Couples  
Ch. 12: Vaughn Decided

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. And a very special thanks to xXxXbittersweetxtearsXx, destiny-rebellion and Josie thank you for forever reading and reviewing the chapters.**

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Corrine walked out wearing a flower printed skirt that hit right above her knees, with a simple yellow tank top that accentuated her dark complexion. She sashayed gracefully by the living room where Vaughn was seated watching the morning news. The sight of the skirt caught his attention, and he immediately switched from watching the TV to watching Corrine. He caught himself smiling at her graceful movements as she stuffed her bag with folders and books.

"What?" Corrine asked stopping in her tracks when she noticed Vaughn watching her from the couch.

He gaped at her a second longer before replying. "Nothing," he searched for something to say, and then noticed her flip-flops. "I just realized you're not wearing your flats today," he remarked saving himself from what could have been an embarrassing moment. After all she did catch him staring at her.

She smiled at him with slight uncertainty. "Actually," she began holding up a finger in the air, and with a lovely twirl of her skirt picked up a pair of white flats from the floor behind her.

"There they are!" he said in mock triumph, examining the obviously new pair of shoes in her hand. It was nice seeing her dress more like a girl, not that she didn't before. But now at least, he could appreciate her shapely petite body under her curve hugging outfits, instead of the unflattering school uniform he always saw her in. "So you've got class today?" he asked trailing his eyes to her slender legs.

"No, just dropping by the library to squeeze in a few hours of studying," she slipped on a flat effortlessly as she stood on one foot. "Oh that reminds me," she paused as she struggled with the other. She glanced up and noticed him grinning.

She looked hopelessly adorable as she made a great effort to slip on her shoe. "Yeah?" Vaughn asked through his smile, a little hopeful for an invite.

"Did Greg leave yet?" she replied harmlessly, not knowing it had not only disappointed Vaughn, but also ignited a small flame of jealousy.

'Greg of course,' Vaughn thought with genuine disappointment. "No, I think he's in his room. Why?" his voice was missing it's jovial tone, and he had slipped back into the cushions of the coach, facing the television. It was Greg she wanted, not him.

Corrine noticed his sudden change of mood, and wondered if she had said something remotely wrong. "He was supposed to go check out some apartments with me today," she started, "but you know what? I'd love it if you came along instead," she said reaching for her jacket that had been draped over a chair. She stole a sideways glance at him, hoping she had made up for whatever wrong she had said before.

The invite was exactly what he was wishing for and he tried hard to keep from smiling. The thought of her wanting his company made Vaughn almost jump for joy. He contemplated over the matter for several seconds, all the awhile trying to remind himself that he had a date in a few hours, but the reminder didn't keep him from accepting her offer. He glanced over at the clock; it was close to 9:30. 'I have plenty of time,' he decided subconsciously. "Yeah, I'll come," he said.

"Great! Let's meet around, say, 1 o'clock on the corner of Corrine Ave?" she said with a playful smile.

'Shoot,' he thought. His date was around the same time. "Yeah, 1 o'clock," he replied, thinking he was screwed.

-------------------

Vaughn checked his reflection in the full length mirror in his room, noting his less then perfect appearance. It was always happening to him--he could never make himself look perfectly presentable when it came to impressing a girl. 'This will have to do,' he decided, giving his hair one last fix before walking away.

-------------------

Corrine exited through the library doors and paused to breath in the cool soon-to-be autumn air, and admire how beautiful the day had gotten. It was the perfect day to find an apartment.

As she stepped forward, a small pebble caused her to stumble over and drop the books she held in her arms. "Damn it," she whispered, falling down to her knees to retrieve the fallen items. The simple act made her remember the unpleasant encounter with the British girl, and how Greg had been her knight and shinning armor. As she reached for the last book, a hand came forward and swept it up before she could get it. She looked up expecting to see Greg.

Vaughn beamed down at her. "And I thought you didn't curse," he said remembering the day she had glared up at him for saying 'shit hole'. "You should do it more often. It's cute," he added.

She felt her cheeks rise in color. "It was a slip, that's all," she insisted taking the book from Vaughn.

"Here," Vaughn reached forward offering to take the books from her. "I'll put them in the car,"

Corrine smiled at him, and watched as he carried them away. "I thought I was going to meet you by McDonald's?" she called after him. She didn't ever remember telling him to come pick her up, or what library she was going to for that matter.

Vaughn flashed a smile over his shoulder and continued walking ahead.

She quickened her step in attempt to catch up with him. "And how did you know I was here,"

They had finally ended up at Vaughn's car. And as Corrine watched Vaughn place her books in the back seat, she waited patiently for an answer. "Well?" she prodded.

"I'm beginning to get the impression that you really don't want me here," he said as he began to unlock the passenger door.

Immediately Corrine started to feel some guilt for acting as if his presence wasn't wanted. If anything Corrine was more than pleased to know that he had gone through the trouble to pick her up. "No, of course not. I'm glad you're here," her cheeks still feeling slightly flushed.

Vaughn smiled in satisfaction as he held the door open and watched Corrine climb in.

-------------------

Vaughn noticed Corrine sitting quietly and looking out the window. He was surprised she hasn't asked him about how his date went, or told him about how hers went. He was dying to ask her about it, but figured he'd let her bring it up only if she wanted to. He wasn't going to force it out of her.

"Thanks," he heard her say suddenly.

He glanced at her, "What for?"

"For coming with me," she tore her attention away from the scenery outside to flash him a meaningful smile. "I'm sure you had something so much better to do,"

'Elizabeth,' he thought with some regret. He was sure he would have had a wonderful time with her, but seeing Corrine blush was more than worth it. He noticed a trace of disappointment in her expression when he failed to answer, and he wanted more than anything to make it go away, but even though spending time with Corrine was what he wanted more he still couldn't help but feel terrible for canceling on such a sweet girl like Elizabeth. "So, let's take a look at these apartments," he said cheerfully changing subjects.

Corrine pulled out a stack of papers from her bag, and quickly thumbed through it, pulling a sheet out near the end. "This one's close by," she said showing Vaughn the ad. "And it's my favorite,"

He studied the address, before steering the car into the right direction.

-------------------

They arrived to a white stone building in a quaint neighborhood. Vaughn could tell why it was her favorite. It was one of those picturesque Victorian flats complete with detailed ornamentation, and a black metal fence. It was classically beautiful. It was perfect for Corrine.

"Isn't it beautiful?!" she shouted in excitement as she ran forward to the gate.

Vaughn stood discretely by the car watching her with a smile. 'Not as beautiful as you,' he thought secretly.

She turned around and beckoned him to come forward. "Let's take a look inside,"

Vaughn looked around cautiously, before moving. "I think you need an agent to do that," he warned. "Or at least get permission from the landlord,"

"Maybe I can still see it," she said and pushed the gate open. And Vaughn was forced to run after her.

-------------------

Inside Corrine ran into a tenant, and kindly asked him where she could find the landlord and how he liked living in the building. After a brief conversation and a point up the stairs she learned that he had just recently scooped up the last vacant flat.

"C'mon Corrine, I'm sure there are others just as good," Vaughn reassured wrapping an arm around her tiny shoulders as they made their way back to the car.

"I know, but I really liked this one," she explained, feeling comfort in Vaughn's arm.

Back in the car Vaughn searched through the stack of papers for their next destination. "Where did you find all these?" he asked in astonishment at the thick stack of papers.

"Oh, Greg helped me find them off the internet. We were practically up all last night looking for them," she explained failing to mention the part where she had waited foolishly for him to come home.

"Is that all you guys did?" he couldn't help himself.

"Well, we ordered pizza," she added.

"Is that all? You guys didn't go out or anything?" he continued asking.

"No, we stayed in," she answered.

He was expecting her to go on about her date with Greg, not about staying in and ordering pizza. Vaughn felt like an idiot. A jealous idiot.

-------------------

Well, there it is! Hope you enjoyed it. And please review.


	13. Ch 13 Planning of Surprises

Odd Couples  
Ch. 13: Planning of Surprises

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. And a very special thanks to xXxXbittersweetxtearsXx, destiny-rebellion and Josie thank you for forever reading and reviewing the chapters**.

-------------------

Vaughn had kept to himself afterwards, careful not to ask too much. He quickly picked out another apartment, showing it to Corrine for her approval then started the car and drove off in silence.

Corrine sighed as she turned to look out her window. "I wonder how the guys' are doing back home?" 'I wonder how Marshall's doing.'

Vaughn tore his attention away from the road to glance at her. He wanted very much to answer her question with the typical, 'I'm sure they're doing fine,' But nothing came out. And suddenly, he wondered too, what his friends back home were up to. He smirked as the thought of Lucas and Josie forming a relationship came to mind. It would be about time.

-------------------

Marshall looked up from his brochures and papers as the door to the cafe opened. He watched as his two friends walked in, taking notice that for the first time in several weeks they appeared to be enjoying each other's company.

They stood by the door scanning the tables, easily overlooking Marshall who was seated in a far corner.

Marshall grunted at their failure to notice him, and stood up waving a hand in the air. "Lucas!" he called out, grabbing their attention.

The two walked over, Josie leading, and Lucas trailing behind. "You couldn't have picked a better table" said Lucas sarcastically. Lucas eyed the littered table curiously and noticed several brochures all of which looked to belong to colleges, along with maps, and other papers. "College stuff?" he wondered.

Marshall quickly gathered the papers into a pile, and carelessly threw them into the seat beside him. "Yeah, college stuff," he answered hastily then motioned for them to sit down.

Josie looked at him suspiciously as she took her seat. It was obvious it was something more than just "college stuff", if it was even that to begin with.

He barely returned the look, trying to focus his attention on the half-eaten cream cheese bagel in front of him. He scraped the toasted top with his knife, leaving little ridges in the white spread.

"Can you believe summer is almost over?" interrupted Lucas.

"I know. It feels like I've wasted it," said Josie recalling all the perfect summer days she threw away to stay in to watch reruns of her favorite shows and mope around at the loss of a certain someone.

Marshall glanced between his two friends, thinking of Corrine. She was probably having the time of her life in London, and she was probably having the time of her life being single too. Then the thought of Vaughn entered his thoughts, and jealousy soon took over. He subconsciously narrowed his eyes at Lucas, who, in return, looked at Marshall in bewilderment.

"What?" Lucas asked.

'God knows what they might be doing,' Marshall thought dangerously to himself as he poked at the bagel, ignoring Lucas's question. They had, after all, gotten closer their last year at Blake Holsey, and being alone and single in London would only drive them closer, he figured. "I know I wasted mine." he then declared, thinking he should have gone after her as she as about to board her plane, and kissed her square on the lips, like in all those romantic films.

-------------------

The car pulled up to a red brick building complex--the fourth and probably last stop for the day. It was obvious to Vaughn that Corrine's motivation to find a new home had left her a long time ago.

Corrine cringed at its appearance, and grabbed the ad to compare.

"You can't judge a book by its cover," Vaughn remarked in a smart aleck tone. He could tell she thought it looked like crap. Hell, he thought, anything would look like crap after seeing the last apartment.

Corrine flashed him a look over her shoulder, before returning her gaze at the building. "Well, I guess a look won't hurt," She opened her door and stepped out into the fresh air that smelled faintly of sweet pastries and cakes. She smiled as she inhaled the aroma of vanilla and cinnamon. She stepped quickly up to the porch steps, her shoes clicking on the pavement.

Vaughn followed. "Look at that, it already looks better than that shit hole we saw before,"

It took awhile for Corrine to understand, and when it finally occurred to her she glared back at him disapprovingly.

"Hey, that's not fair, you can curse but I can't," he teased.

"I told you, it was a slip that's all," she said turning the knob on the door. Corrine Baxter never cursed, or at least in front of people.

Corrine cracked the door open about an inch, and hesitated.

Vaughn moved up on the steps, and waited for her to open it the rest of the way, as he was actually eager to see what was inside. But after a few seconds passed and his impatience kicked in, he stepped forward planning to open the door himself, when Corrine suddenly turned around. Their faces now were only mere inches apart.

Corrine found her hand gently lying on his chest. She blushed, as she tried to step back, only to find herself restricted from doing so. She glanced at her sides, and noticed a hand resting protectively on her waist.

Vaughn looked down as well. And he figured within those seconds, he must have thought Corrine would have gone off balance, and fallen off the steps, because his hand had somehow made their way around her waist. He looked up, drawing his hand away awkwardly.

"Sorry," they apologized in unison. They both laughed it off.

"I was thinking, maybe since, I'm obviously not in the mood to go house hunting anymore, maybe you could drop me back at the library," Corrine asked, pulling the door shut behind her.

Vaughn pretended to give it some thought, "Sure,"

-------------------

"Thanks Vaughn, but I don't really need a chaperone," Corrine joked.

"Oh, c'mon, you're not the only one who needs to study," he replied coolly as he set his paper folder down at a table.

Corrine scanned the nearly empty library, and spotting an empty table she said, "Well, so you don't distract me, I'm gonna sit over there."

"Suite yourself," he answered, turning around to find a few books on philosophy and English literature.

He really didn't need to study, but he figured, since there wasn't really anything else to do, and since Greg would be in class pretty much all day, he'd hang around and wait for Corrine to be done pouring over her notes and books so they could go do something.

He pretended to look over the shelves, stealing a view of Corrine studying through the gaps in the shelves from time to time. She looked completely engaged in whatever was in the book, and he wished he had the patience to sit around and study like that.

A small delicate hand ran up his back, and he turned around and found Elizabeth smiling seductively back at him. "I thought you said you were out of town?"

Vaughn glanced around, guiltily, "I was, and then I remembered I have this huge exam tomorrow that I can't fail," he quickly made up.

"Poor Vaughn," she was playing with his shirt collar between her fingers.

"I know, I was up here since 8," he lied and glanced back at Corrine, hoping she wouldn't look over and notice the two of them.

Elizabeth's hand reached up and cupped Vaughn's cheek. "What do you think about taking a little break," she asked in her sultry voice, leaning up to kiss him.

Vaughn turned away, "I actually just took my break," he lied. No matter how much he wanted to kiss her back, or tell her how pretty she looked, he was more afraid of Corrine catching them together.

"It'll only take minute," she smiled, showing off her perfect set of pearly whites.

He took her shoulders and gently moved her aside.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm sorry; I just really need to get back to studying. Look, I'll call you later tonight, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded her head in disappointment, and watched as he walked off.

As he continued his pretend search, he bumped into a display showcasing international cuisine, and remembered an errand he needed to run.

He took the long way back to the table, giving Elizabeth enough time to leave the area. He didn't want her seeing him with Corrine either. He walked through 10 minutes worth of aisles, and even pretended to ask an employee about a book he allegedly couldn't locate, before walking back to Corrine.

She looked up from the note cards in her hands, when she heard footsteps approach.

"I just remembered, I had this errand to run. You want me to come pick you up later?" he whispered into her ear.

"That's okay," she answered shaking her head.

-------------------

The three of them walked out into the brightly lit parking lot after their movie ended.

"Is it okay if you ride with Marshall?" Lucas asked, throwing away his half empty extra large pop-corn bucket.

"Uh, sure," Josie answered.

"I don't think I have time to drop you off, my mom told be to be home before midnight, and it's already a quarter till," Lucas explained.

Marshall took a sip from his drink. "Hang in there, Lucas, just a few more months," he replied patting him on the back.

"Yeah, well I'll see you guys tomorrow then," Lucas parted from his friends into the opposite direction.

In the car, Josie immediately brought up the question she'd been meaning to ask since this morning. "What are you up to?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked innocently as he slid the key into the ignition.

"You know very well what I mean. Those brochures, they weren't really colleges were they?"

Marshall looked over at Josie. Except for the areas the street light outside lit, his whole face was shadows. "Actually, they were,"

Josie was still suspicious. "Well, I hope that's the only thing they were,"

-------------------

I appologize a million times plus 1 that the wait had to take so long. I've seriosuly been busy with so many things that finding the time to write was a challenge. Anyway, regular updates are back. Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review.


	14. Ch14 Power's Out

Odd Couples  
Ch. 14: Power's Out

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. Thank you!**

-------------------

This turned out to be a long chapter, and another all Vaughn and Corrine one too. Hope you guys don't mind it.

Corrine stared out the curtain bare windows and into the brightly lit city. The sun had gone down a few hours ago, and now the stars were twinkling in the dark and cloudless sky. She gave the glass pane a few taps with her finger before noticing a couple walking briskly across the street.

At first glance it looked like their hands were laced together, but a closer look had said otherwise. It looked almost as if the girl was being pulled against her will. The guy would occasionally glance back and appear to shout something, to which the girl responded angrily to. It was obvious she wasn't very happy, and Corrine concluded that whatever it was the guy was shouting back at her didn't make anything better. She continued watching in sympathy until the girl looked up at the window.

Corrine glanced away quickly, diverting her attention to the moon. It was hardly a full moon, or any moon at all--just a thin crescent sliver of grey that Corrine quickly identified as the waxing crescent phase. She remembered all the moon phases by heart, thanks to her freshman year science project on the moon and tides which she remembered getting a hundred percent on.

After the couple disappeared Corrine looked back into the now nearly empty streets, where she spotted the distinct red London mailbox. It was then that she remembered the letters she mailed back home a week ago. "I hope they got them," she said aloud. She scanned the streets below one last time before deciding a quick trip for some coffee wouldn't hurt.

She looked back at her scattered books and notes on the floor and sighed. Had those elementary kids chose a different day for their field trip, Corrine would have still been at the library, away from the urges to drink caffeinated beverages and think about home. She sat herself back down on the sofa when she realized she needed to get back to studying, at least for another hour before she could even think about running off for coffee breaks.

-------------------

Vaughn balanced one of the paper bags on his knees, as he fished out his keys which he had mistakenly dropped back into his pockets as he was going up the stairs. He glanced over at the stairway thinking he heard footsteps, and the faint sounds of voices coming up. He dismissed it soon after successfully pulling out his keys without dropping anything.

He walked into his apartment to find all the lights off except for the one in the living room. There he also found Corrine on the floor surrounded by scattered papers and two or three books. He figured she was really into what she was reading because she didn't even bother to look up. "Hey," she greeted keeping her eyes glued on the last page of a chapter.

"Stop studying and come help me," he called out. He dropped the three paper bags heavily on the counter, and flipped on the light switch.

Corrine finally looked up. "Help you what? I--is, are those groceries?" she asked in amazement.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Corrine dog eared the page and shut the book gently and got up. She looked over to meet Vaughn's gaze. "Are you serious? You went off to buy your own groceries?!"

"Yeah, is it that unusual?" he asked, rather offended.

Corrine was now over in the kitchen, digging through the paper bags. "No, not really, it's just I can't picture you going grocery shopping that's all," she chuckled imagining Vaughn over in the produce section examining apples. "I hope you bought some coffee,"

Vaughn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess, but it's not like I can count on Greg to do it," then added as an afterthought, "I think there might be some in the bottom of that bag," he pointed as he pulled off his jacket, and tossed it on a chair.

"Anyway, did you want me to help put these away?" she asked as she pulled out a bag of coffee beans.

"No, actually I was thinking of making dinner," he said with confidence. He watched her set down the coffee beans.

"You're going to make dinner?" she asked once again in disbelief.

"We're going to make dinner," he corrected tossing her a yellow apron.

-------------------

"Careful," Corrine warned as she kept her eyes steady on the blade, thinking any moment it'd slip and slice Vaughn's finger. "Careful," she reminded again.

"Thanks, I will,"

She watched as the blade effortlessly sliced the onion in half. "Careful," she said a third time, knowing it would irritate Vaughn.

"Thanks, I think I've got it, Corrine," He looked up and noticed she was giggling.

"Sorry. I--I think I'll go get the salad ready,"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea,"

After having difficulties with opening the bag of pre-rinsed lettuce leaves, Corrine finally got the salad into the wooden bowl. She walked it over to the dining table and set it in the center, along with the store bought bottle of Italian vinaigrette.

"What else?" she asked, wiping her hands on the canary yellow apron Vaughn had given her to wear. "And why am I the only one wearing an apron?"

Vaughn sniffed, and used the back of his palm to wipe the corners of his eyes. "I didn't think you wanted to get yourself all dirty," he answered honestly then sniffed the air again.

Corrine was too thankful to even consider laughing at his current teary state. "Thanks Vaughn," She reached over the counter and ripped off a sheet from the paper towel roll. "Here,"

"No thanks," he declined, taking the towel gently from her hands anyway, and setting it down by the cutting board.

Corrine got a view of his tomato sauce splattered shirt then looked down at her clean apron, and chuckled inwardly. He needed it more than she did.

She looked up from his shirt to meet his gaze. She hadn't noticed it before, but his eyes were the nicest shade of brown. "What?" she wondered curiously? She wasn't sure what was happening to her knees, but they were suddenly feeling weak. She leaned on the counter for support, feeling she'd collapse at any given moment if he didn't stop looking at her.

But his gaze did not waiver.

"Don't look at me like that," she said feeling self conscious.

"Like what?" he wondered putting down his knife.

"Like--like how you're doing it now," she took a step back.

Vaughn was enjoying himself, and he was enjoying Corrine's reaction. "What do you mean?"

"Go back to chopping those onions," she suggested.

"Only if--" he started but was distracted by the piece of lettuce hanging onto a strand of her hair. He stepped forward closing in the space between them, and gently picked it off. "Lettuce," he smiled showing her the green leaf.

Corrine tried to smile back, but the closeness of Vaughn reminded her of their earlier encounter. "Thanks," She remained standing mere inches away from him, though she felt incredibly uncomfortable. She watched him run his hand through his hair.

Vaughn sighed. 'What are you doing?' he asked himself, as he stared guiltily down into Corrine's eyes. He pulled himself away. "Never mind," he said, and cursed himself for acting too confident.

"You should change your shirt," she suggested.

"Yeah," he nodded.

-------------------

Vaughn walked back into the kitchen with his shirt half way on when the power went out.

"Vaughn?" Corrine called out, thinking he was still changing in the room.

"Corrine, I'm right here," he held out his hand for her to seek out.

"Oh," she replied when her hand met his, which she immediately let go upon contact.

Vaughn felt around for the kitchen drawers. "I think I have a flashlight somewhere in here,"

As Corrine's eyes were starting to get adjusted to the darkness, she began to see Vaughn's silhouette. "There isn't a storm is there?" she wondered.

"No, I don't think so," he pulled a drawer open which luckily contained the portable light source. "Here we go,"

When he turned the light on, the first thing Corrine noticed was Vaughn's half covered torso. She looked away feeling her cheeks rise in color.

"Here," he handed her the flashlight, "I'm going to see what's going on,"

"Don't you need this?" she called out.

"No it's okay,"

-------------------

After finding out the whole block was without electricity, Vaughn and Corrine decided to wait it out. They lit candles--most of which belonged to Corrine, and most of them scented--and sat back on the leather couch, discussing anything that would come to mind.

"Try some," Vaughn insisted nudging her in the arm with the glass bottle.

"No," she pushed away the bottle. "I don't drink,"

Vaughn moved over closing in the space between them. "If you're worried about age--"

"I'm not," she interrupted. "I just--I'd rather not," She sat stiffly at the end of the couch, and kept her eyes glued on the idle TV screen. She sounded impatient, and grouchy, and too much of a do gooder. And she didn't want to sound like she wasn't enjoying his company. She sighed, leaned back on the leather cushions, and turned her head to face Vaughn.

"You know, I'm sure you'd like this," he kept going, taking a gulp from his nearly empty bottle. "There are all different flavors: Orange, raspberry, vanilla, watermelon, green apple, cran--"

"Fine," Corrine decided, feeling daring. They were after all, legally allowed to drink, it's not like she would be breaking any laws.

"Cranberry, black cherry," he continued dismissing her previous statement.

"Okay, Vaughn, I'll have one," she repeated herself.

Vaughn's eyes grew wide in surprise, and he shot up out of his seat. "That's more like it," he exclaimed.

He walked over to the kitchen, forgetting to ask her what flavor she wanted.

Meanwhile, Corrine looked down at her lap, and noticed the yellow apron she was still wearing. She picked off, a piece of potato peeling that dried up into the cloth. "When is Greg coming home?" she called out loud enough for him to hear her across the room.

Vaughn pretended not to hear it. He didn't want to spend their time talking about his roommate, who he felt was beginning to steal Corrine's friendship away from him. He grabbed her a bottle of green apple Smirnoff, and a cranberry one for him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" he then asked coolly. He noticed she had taken off the apron, and left it folded neatly on the coffee table.

"Uh, never mind," she smiled, reaching for the bottle from his extended hand. "Thanks,"

"Hold on, let me open that for you," he added.

"Please, I can open it myself," she said with a hint of attitude.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot girls can do anything guys can do, right?" he handed Corrine the unopened bottle.

"Exactly," she watched Vaughn, as he effortlessly twisted the top off his. She then went onto doing the same, except hers didn't open; instead she felt the metal ridges in the cap pushing into the soft skin of her palm. She winced as she continued twisting until she heard a satisfying pop. She smiled up at Vaughn at her achievement. Vaughn smiled back. "See I told you,"

"I knew you could do it all along," he sat himself down on the couch, this time leaving only an inch or two between them. "So?"

She took another sip, trying to get its full flavor. "Hmm, not bad," she concluded.

"Uh oh, Corrine's walking on the wild side now," he teased.

Corrine joined in laughing. "Be quiet,"

"I think you mean 'shut up'," Vaughn laughed.

"Yeah, whatever," Corrine playfully pushed him on the arm, causing some of his drink to spill from the mouth of the bottle. "Oh, I am so sorry."

Corrine jumped up, making a mad dash for the kitchen, but Vaughn caught her hand before she could get too far. "Its okay, see?" he brushed off the small amount of liquid that spilled on his shirt. "All better. So sit back down, and don't worry about it,"

She obeyed sitting back down on the couch next to Vaughn. The two remained silent for the next few minutes, as they sat quietly in the dark, drinking, and thinking of what to say. Corrine was thinking of thanking Vaughn for making an effort to cook dinner, though it ended up an unfinished disaster. And Vaughn was thinking of a way to let her know he enjoyed having her around, and how he wouldn't mind sharing his room with her a little longer. But neither of them spoke for a long time.

"You wanna know the truth?" Vaughn finally spoke up.

-------------------

I am more than sorry, that this chapter took a long time. I know I promised regular updates. I'm working on it.


	15. Ch15 Attempted Confession

Odd Couples  
Ch. 15: Attempted Confession

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. Thank you!**

-------------------

She crossed her legs Indian style, like a little kid, and nodded her head. "Okay," She wasn't sure what she was expecting. But somewhere deep inside she desperately wanted to know how he felt about her. Not for the reason that she had any feelings for him--or at least that? what she had gotten herself to believe--but to settle her mind. She swallowed hard, anticipating the words that would escape his lips.

"Remember when I said I didn't break up with Josie for the same reason you broke up with Marshall?"

"Yeah, what about it?" She had almost forgotten about that conversation.

"Well, the truth is," He said slowly making sure to say everything he needed to in one line, "I ended it with Josie becau--"

He barely had time to finish the sentence, since Greg came barging in through the door. Vaughn sighed heavily in defeat, and looked over at his roommate in despise.

"The whole bloody buildings out of power," exclaimed Greg in a forced British accent.

Corrine giggled, despite being disappointed at not getting to hear Vaughn's reason.

Vaughn shook his head, "Why the hell are you talking like that?"

"You're look at Joseph Wallace's new Mr. Darcy," he proudly stuck out his chest.

Vaughn was not comprehending. "What?"

"Who's Joseph Wallace?" asked Corrine.

"No, not who, what." Greg corrected.

Vaughn was already getting enough of the conversation. "What is it then?" he asked impatiently. Knowing Greg, it was probably some scam he had gotten himself into again.

"A theater production company," he answered.

"Come again?" It was still not registering to Vaughn.

Greg shrugged off his jacket and fell back on the couch next to Vaughn. "I was walking out of the coffee shop, when I bumped into this tough looking guy. I sorta kinda spilled my coffee all over his suit, and I thought he was gonna beat the shit out of me," he stopped there, as his eyes wandered out the window into the night sky, the candle light extenuating his handsome features.

"But?" Corrine asked with interest.

Greg snapped back. "But he didn't," he simply answered.

Vaughn gritted his teeth. "What the hell does he have to do with whatever Joseph Wallace is?"

Corrine was too busy listening to notice that both guys had swore in the conversation.

"Because, he said he likes how I look."

"And?"

"And turns out he was the casting director for the theater's new version of Pride and Prejudice. I'm gonna be star!" he exclaimed grabbing Vaughn by the shoulders and shaking him briskly a few times.

Vaughn gently pushed him away. "You don't even act,"

"That's terrific! Congratulations!" squealed Corrine, rushing out of her seat to give Greg a hug.

"At least someone's supportive,"

Vaughn got up from the couch smoothing a hand over his hair. "No, I mean, I'm happy for ya man," and walked off towards the kitchen.

-  
TWO WEEKS LATER -------------------

Lucas's mud splattered car pulled into Marshall's driveway. He always imagined when he'd get a car whether it was new or not, he'd always keep it nice and clean and shiny, but now that he had one all that cleaning just didn't seem too important.

The summer was almost over and fall would soon be arriving, and that only meant one thing--college. He wasn't excited, and he wasn't looking forward to being a freshman and living on an unfamiliar campus and going to class everyday. It was going to be Blake Holsey all over again, except without his friends.

He gave the door bell a few rings, then stepped back and waited for someone to come answer it.

The door opened and out popped Marshall's dad. He was tall, intimidating, and he was giving Lucas an inquisitive look. "Yes?" he asked in an authoritative voice.

Lucas swallowed. "Is Marshall home?"

"Who's at the door?" came another voice from inside. It was a younger male's voice, but it wasn't Marshall. And a few seconds later a slightly taller Grant appeared behind his dad. He saw Lucas and smiled.

"I got it" the taller, older grant said, pushing his dad aside.

Mr. Wheeler gave Lucas one last look before walking back into the living room.

"Is that really you Grant?" inquired Lucas who was staring at Marshall's older brother in awe.

"Yup. In the flesh," Grant answered coolly as he always had.

"Since when did you get here?"

"Just this morning,"

"Marshall didn't tell me anything about it,"

"It was a surprise," he paused. "Was there something you needed?"

Lucas had almost forgotten why he had come in the first place. "Yeah, Marshall around?"

"Actually he just stepped out, but you're welcome to wait for him inside, he should be coming back soon,"

"Thanks,"

With that Grant led Lucas pass the living room where Mr. Wheeler was watching recaps of last night's football game to the foot of the stairs. "I assume you know where his room is?"

Lucas nodded.

-------------------

It had been two long weeks since they had a real conversation. Vaughn felt like he was avoiding her, or she avoiding him, but truthfully they were just busy. Both of them were constantly out of the apartment, and only saw each other long enough to say hi or ask about each other? day. He had no doubts, however, that she and Greg were spending allot of time together.

Sometimes late at night he'd hear them come in, whispering or quietly laughing. They'd rehearse Greg's play, and sometimes he'd even hear the room to his bedroom door close behind them, and not until later would Greg come back to his own room where Vaughn lay wide awake.

In the mornings he'd open the fridge to see new take-out boxes appear from fancy restaurants. Restaurants that he had imagined taking Corrine to.

'They're not together' he told himself over and over again for comfort. But there was little evidence that would argue otherwise.

He grabbed his keys from the counter ready to head out to class when the door opened. He wasn't the least bit surprised it was the two new best friends.

-------------------

Lucas glanced down at his watch. He had been waiting for fifteen minutes.

He got up from Marshall's bed and began to stroll, observing old photos, awards and other knick knacks he had lying around. The room was clean to Lucas's surprise, unlike his own which had clothes, papers, and candy wrappers littering the floor.

He made his way over to the dresser where some brochures caught his attention. It seemed he wasn't the only one with college on his mind. He picked one up with a two guys laughing in front of a brick building. One of the guys was carrying books, and the other had a backpack slung over a shoulder.

After setting it back down, another piece of paper caught his attention. One that had "England" unmistakably written out in bold letters.

-------------------

"You won't believe this," Corrine started, forgetting about formal greetings. She sounded out of breath, and her cheeks were flushed.

"What?" asked Vaughn.

"I found a place!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he said a second time.

Corrine dug into her bag producing a folded paper. She handed it over to Vaugh. "Isn't it perfect?"

"I'm telling you, you're gonna wish you lived there," added Greg. "I already do,"

Vaughn unfolded the paper and looked down at the computer printed photo and floor plan. He was in too much shock to really take notice of anything. After giving the paper a quick scan he nodded his head and folded it back up. "It's perfect," he said handing it to Corrine.

"I can't wait to move in," she continued. "Oh, just imagine, I'm gonna have my own place Vaughn!"

Vaughn tried to fake a smile, but he knew it wasn't very convincing. "So when are you moving?"

"Not for a few weeks," she answered. "But don't worry, you'll get your room back to yourself very soon."

"That's great," Vaughn added.

Corrine smiled at Greg and then and Vaughn. "I'm gonna go call my mom and dad and tell them all about it!"

After she disappeared into Vaughn's room, Greg looked over at Vaughn shaking his head. "Looks like someone's not very happy,"

Vaughn glared at Greg. "What?"

"You know," Greg motioned to the closed door with his eyebrows.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Vaughn put his hand on the door knob and gave it a turn, ready to leave before the conversation went any further. "I'll see you later," he glanced over at his bedroom door, then walked out.

-------------------

Lucas had been waiting 30 minutes when Marshall came bounding up the stairs and into his room. His surprised face let Lucas know Grant didn't mention him being up there.

"Hey, Lucas?" it was more of a question than a greeting. He noticed what Lucas was holding between his fingers and knew exactly what was coming.

It wasn't what he had come to talk to Marshall about, but now it had become more important. "Care to explain this Marshall?" he asked holding up a plane ticket in the air.

-------------------

Hope you guys haven;t lost interest. As always, please review!!


	16. Ch16 Mistake

Odd Couples  
Ch. 16: Mistake

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. Thank you!**

-------------------

Lucas sped down the stairs with Marshall following slowly behind. The plane ticket still tightly in his grip.

"Lucas," Marshall breathed.

Lucas pretended not to hear him. If he couldn't persuade his best friend he was making a big mistake, he knew someone who would. He opened the door, motioning Marshall to hurry up.

That same moment, Grant came passing through holding a stack of envelopes. He eyed the two boys curiously. "Where are you two going?"

Right when Marshall was going to answer, Lucas quickly stepped in. "To talk some sense into your brother,"

Grant nodded his head in approval. "Great,"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "I'll be back," and turned back towards the door.

He knew exactly where they were going. "Well, while you're there can you give this to him?" he searched the stack of envelopes in his hands, "hold on it might be in the other one."

The two watched Grant walk back into the dining room, where Lucas noticed the littered table. There were papers, pens, and boxes everywhere. "Here it is," they heard him say. He walked back out into the foyer where he handed it to Marshall.

Marshall looked down at the envelope and back at Grant. "It's your job," he protested.

"C'mon Marshall? You're going there anyway,"

"So?"

"It'll help us get more done. Do you know how many of these we have to deliver?"

"Then stick a stamp on them and drop them at the post office!"

Lucas watched as the two brothers argued over a single, flammable, water soluble item.

"We can? do that,"

"I don't care,"

Lucas sighed. "I'll give it to him,"

The two brothers paused in their argument and looked over at Lucas. Grant smiled handing over the paper. "Thank you Lucas," he said looking over at Marshall.

-------------------

The only thing he could think about was Corrine moving out. It came all too suddenly, though he knew it would happen sooner or later; he was only wishing it would be the latter.

He smiled as he reminisced about all the times they'd spent together at his apartment. Though the past few weeks weren't as enjoyable as the others, they still had their fair share of good times.

Like the one time he decided to help her study a set of note cards, and they ended up talking about everything but what she was supposed be reviewing. He remembered her coming home a few days later saying she aced it anyway.

Then there was the time they stayed up all night in his room looking over Josie's scrapbook, and talking about what their perfect partner would be like. He remembered his description fit both Corrine's personality and appearance. And even though he might have had a drink that night, he was definitely not teasing, though she thought he was.

And of course the night they had attempted to cook dinner. Even though the night went awry, with the electricity going out, and with Greg disrupting their conversation, it was still the most memorable time he spent with Corrine.

He looked at his professor who was still lecturing, and down at his empty notepad.

-------------------

The navy blue door finally opened on the third ring.

"Lucas? Marshall?" He was surprised to see them standing outside his door. He hadn't seen Marshall since that evening Corrine left for London, and he hadn't seen, let alone spoken with Lucas since Graduation. He greeted them with a weak smile.

"Hi Z," greeted Lucas as he pushed through the door impatiently and stepped into the living room.

Marshall nodded his head in acknowledgement, as he followed Lucas in.

Z, surprised from the unexpected intrusion, shook his head, and glanced back outside wondering if Josie would appear, before closing the door behind him.

-------------------

Elizabeth was passing though the Burlington arcade, when she spotted Vaughn coming from the opposite direction.

"Vaughn?" she said trying to keep her volume down.

Vaughn looked over, and noticed the familiar face waiving at him from across the arcade. He smiled as he made his way up to her, his hands tucked away in his pockets. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

She stood there awkwardly, contemplating whether or not to greet him with a hug. "Just got out of class, thought I'd do a little shopping," she looked over at his hands, which were neatly hidden from view. "What about you?"

He scanned the window they were standing in front of. "Same," he simply answered. "without the shopping part," he added as an afterthought.

Elizabeth smiled. "Would you, maybe, like to accompany me?" she asked hopefully. She was feeling lonely and wanted some male company. It was always nice to walk around London with a smart, handsome boy at your arms.

"Actually," he thought about going back home and hopefully catching Corrine sans Greg, but he soon concluded that the chances of that were slim. "Yeah, I'd love to." he watched as her eyes lit up. He was secretly hoping she didn't have any other plans besides shopping up her sleeves.

-------------------

It wasn't long after Z shut the door did Lucas started rambling on about what sounded like nonsense. He didn't even get a chance to ask how their summer was going, or how excited they were for college or even offer them something to drink, like a proper host would do.

"Tell him he's wrong. Tell him he's wrong and I'm right!" exclaimed Lucas pointing to Marshall with the plane ticket.

Z looked questioningly at him then over at Marshall who was shaking his head disapprovingly. "What is it we're talking about?" Z used a finger to push up his rimless glasses.

"Here," he handed over the paper for Z to examine. "Tell him he's making a big mistake," He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched.

Z scanned the ticket twice for good measure, and in an audible whisper said, "London, England. This is a one-way ticket to London, England." When it dawned on him, he looked over worriedly at Marshall. "I'm hoping there's another part to this?" he flipped it over twice, and double checked for any folds or signs of a missing page. There were none. "Or perhaps you're buying the return ticket there?"

Marshall shook his head.

-------------------

"I hate my bloody professor," Elizabeth confessed as she started searching through a rack of cashmere cardigans.

Vaughn yawned, as he ran a finger down the side of a purse. He felt grooves in the leather, and ran his finger over it again and again, until he realized it was alligator skin.

"Did you hear me?" she asked when she didn't get a reply the first time.

Truthfully he hadn't heard half of what she was talking about the minute they walked into the store. He heard parts about her cousin Lily's birthday party, and about her hating her professor, but other than that, he was completely lost. "What?"

She sighed. "You weren't listening to a thing I said," she said sadly moving on to a table, where there was a colorful array of scarves neatly arranged on top.

"No, I was," he assured. "What about your professor?" He followed her over to the table, taking long strides. He noticed his blurred reflection in the polished black granite floor.

"Well, he stuck me with the new girl as a partner," she said loathingly.

He was going to try to make an effort to stay in the conversation. "And what's wrong with her?"

"Everything," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh, couldn't you at least give her chance?"

Elizabeth scoffed. "I did, and she ruined it,"

That was what he didn't like about her, or any girl for that matter. They were always hating on someone for no apparently good reason.

"You should see how she dresses too, it's appalling," she added, picking up a brightly patterned silk scarf. Suddenly she started giggling. "I bumped into her on purpose today, and let my ice cream cone smear all over her hideous dress,"

She giggled some more, as Vaughn thought about going home.

-------------------

He was a foolish schoolboy in love, Z thought, one who was too much blinded by his feelings to distinguish a wise decision from a foolish one. He shook his head as he tried to listen to his former pupil, but ultimately he couldn't help but think about the failure that would become his life if he went on with his plans. "Are you positive about this Marshall?" he asked a third time glancing over at Lucas, who cared enough to try to help his best friend.

"I really want to go. I think it's best for me. I mean, I've picked out a college and everything," he tried to explain, but it wasn't nearly scratching the surface of persuading the two other men sitting in the room.

Just then there was loud knock on the door. Z looked up curiously.

"That must be Josie," said Lucas voluntarily getting up from the couch to let her in. He called her not long after they settled into Z's cozy apartment.

Z nodded, and focused his attention back on Marshall. He heard the door close.

"Hey," Josie greeted. She wasn't going to bother trying to persuade him nicely. She knew he was making a big mistake and she was going to let him know as bluntly and harshly as she could. "Can I talk to you?" she looked at Marshall.

Josie pulled him outside, and onto Z's balcony where there was a clear view of the surrounding apartments, and of a lake. The fountain provided the scene with the soothing sounds of running water, but it wouldn't help the grave mood of the party.

"Do you really think she's gonna take you back?" she asked with arms crossed leaning against the railings.

-------------------

Hope you guys haven't lost interest. As always, please review!!


	17. Ch17 Closer to Perfect

Odd Couples  
Ch. 17: Closer to Perfect

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! You guys are the reason I have kept writing. Thank you!**

-------------------

As much as he liked Elizabeth, he couldn't have been more happy to be back home far away from the shopping and gossip.

He walked into his makeshift bedroom to find Greg standing in front of the full length mirror, decked out in 19th century attire. "Check this out," he said spinning around for Vaughn to see. He had on a dark blue coat that extended in the back down to his knees. Under that he wore a brown vest over a white ruffled shirt tucked neatly into off-white breeches. "Just imagine it with the shoes and stockings," he added giving his bare toes a wriggle. "Of course, this is only one of the costumes I get to wear,"

Vaughn wasn't really in the mood for chit-chat, but decided to compliment him anyway. "Yeah, it's very," he searched his brain for something appropriate. "historical." He nodded.

Greg furrowed his brow as he watched his roommate throw himself on the bed with a loud thud. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm," he responded. But he really wasn't.

-------------------

"I need to know you're not bullshitting us," said Josie.

Z looked over at her with a stern glare. He was never used to hearing his students--former or not--use such words, and often he forgot they were no longer in school.

"Look we need to know your not screwing us over," Josie continued. Out on the balcony she had successfully made Marshall rethink his plans, and even agreed to let him go on the terms that he return a week later. Now they were debating whether or not they could trust him to buy a return ticket before his plane left a week from now.

Lucas nodded his head in agreement, letting Josie do all the of talking.

"You can turst me guys," Marshall replied in a relaxed tone.

"Can we?" Z asked.

The once heated conversation turned into silence afterwards. Marshall leaned back into the couch and scanned the room at Josie, Lucas and Z, who were all there out of concern for him. He was touched by their thoughtfulness, but was ultimately still angered by their successful persuasion.

-------------------

They both heard the door open. Vaughn lifted his head from his pillow. "Corrine," he said to Greg who was still in his costume. He got up and walked into the living room to greet her.

"Hey," he said groggily, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," she said back. She had her back turned to him, as she sat down her things on the dining table. Vaughn could sense something was wrong. "Where's Greg?"

Vaughn wasn't surprised, though he still felt his heart hurt just a little more. 'Of course,' he thought. Of course the one time they're coincidentally home at the same time, she'd go and ask for Greg, despite their obvious lack of conversation during the past weeks. He let his head drop, regretting he ever came home early. And as he was about to turn back into the room, he got a glimpse of something brown across the front of her white dress.

That same moment, Greg brushed past him into the living room, where he spun around for Corrine. "Ta da," he started but stopped short when he noticed the exact same thing Vaughn had his eyes on. "What the hell happened there?"

Corrine sighed heavily. "Don't ask," she simply answered.

Vaughn watched the interaction between his two friends, and listened closely to their conversation.

"Did you take your ice cream cone and smear it all over yourself?" Greg joked, but wiped the smart smile off his face when he saw Corrine's glare.

"More like someone else did," she retorted.

"Who?" asked Greg.

"Oh, you know who," Corrine was starting to sound irritated. "Ugh! She treats me like trash every chance she gets. And you know what makes matters worse? She's my partner. I don't even know what I did to deserve this."

Vaughn, who was feeling forgotten in the corner, watched her from the doorway realizing he heard something similar before. He furrowed his brow in thought, as he recalled the conversation he had with Elizabeth earlier that afternoon. He distinctly remembered her ranting about a girl she hated, and how hideous her dress was, and how she ruined it with her "ice cream cone," he heard himself saying aloud, as he pieced together the information. Of course, neither of the two heard him.

Elizabeth couldn't be the same person Corrine was talking about, Vaughn concluded. 'Elizabeth is kind, caring, and...' his thoughts trailed off as reality dawned on him.

Greg had hopped onto the back of the sofa and was now nodding his head. "She's just jealous Corrine." He started unbuttoning his vest with one hand, while the other kept him balanced. "Remember the first day she saw us together. The look in her eyes. That was pure jealousy there!"

She shook her head. "Why should she be jealous? She's rich, she's pretty, she's smart, everyone loves her. The girl's perfect, and I'm sure her boyfriend's perfect too!"

Vaughn balled his fist in his growing anger. Corrine was wrong, maybe Elizabeth was rich, but she was none of the those other things, at least, she wasn't any more. He wanted to walk up to her, and take her into his arms and tell her how wrong she was. He wanted to whisper into her ears that she was pretty, and smart. But the next thing he saw made his heart plummet.

Greg hopped down, and strode over to her. And with a gentle hand lifted her chin up. "You are closer to perfect than she will ever be," he whispered just loud enough for Vaughn to hear.

-------------------

Z motioned for Josie and Lucas to step out of the room and join him out in the balcony.

"I don't believe him," started Josie the second the sliding glass door closed behind them.

"Yeah, neither do I," Lucas added.

Z sighed, as he nodded his head in agreement. "Some one should go with him," he suggested half jokingly.

His two former students looked at him in bewilderment. "You're kidding?! We're not made of money Z," said Josie.

Z put his hands up in defense. "I know, I know, I just though maybe--"

"I have some money saved up," Lucas added in.

-------------------

It was the side of this she had never seen before. Corrine looked up at Greg uneasily. Never before had she stood so near him, but after his affectionate words, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, but she hesitated afraid what Vaughn might think. She glanced at the doorway wondering if he was still standing there taking in the scene. It was disappointment she felt when she found that he was gone. "Where's Vaughn?" she asked withdrawing from Greg's nearness.

He pinced the bridge of his nose as, he too, turned away. "Uh, I think he left," he answered with a hint of irritation in his voice.

It took Corrine a few seconds to realize the slight transformation in Greg's mood. A few seconds earlier he was standing mere inches from her body, whispering the sweetest thing into her ear, and now he was making his way across the room to look out the windows. She felt bad, for not even noticing his costume.

Below the third story windows, walking briskly out on the sidewalk, Greg saw Vaughn. But he made no attempt to let Corrine know. He watched as the solemn figure of his roommate disappeared in the distance. 'You fool,' he thought to himself.

After awkwardly standing still, wondering why Vaughn left, and where he could have possibly gone off to, Corrine remembered her still soiled dress. "I, I'm gonna go change," she said to Greg, who turned around and nodded his head silently in acknowledgement.

When he heard the bedroom door close, he returned his gaze back out into the streets.

-------------------

Marshall, Lucas, and Josie crowded behind Z to get a view of the computer screen. Their eyes followed the cursor as it clicked its way through online booking.

After much deliberation and persuasion, it was decided that Lucas would accompany Marshall on the trip. 'I feel like I need to get out of the country anyway,' he remembered saying before getting the approval of Z and Josie. He would be going off to college in a month, and he wasn't particularly excited. But the idea of traveling to a new place on an altogether different continent sounded more and more appealing. Now he watched the computer screen closely, contemplating whether or not he'd want a seat by the window or aisle.

Despite their unwavering gaze at the screen, Lucas and Marshall were deeply lost in their own thoughts, and neither of them noticed the quantity of tickets that ended up being booked.

"I think you made a mistake," Josie pointed out on the screen.

Z looked up at her from his chair. "You might want to call Corrine." he said. "we might need a place to stay,"

-------------------

I've been having more time to write the story thanks to summer. So it shouldn't be a long wait for the next chapter.


	18. Ch18 Favorite Science Club

Odd Couples  
Ch. 18: Favorite Science Club

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

_I wholeheartedly apologize for the long wait. As I have mentioned before, I was unavailable during the time, as I was on a little vacation._

-------------------

The clock was nearly close to striking midnight, and Vaughn was still not home. Corrine had readied herself for bed, and was lying down staring up at the ceiling as she replayed the days events.

Vaughn's sudden disappearance wouldn't have boggled her mind so much if he at least had said a goodbye. Instead he took off, without her even knowing. While they haven't exactly been communicating all that much the past week, it was still uncommon for him to leave without telling her. Every day for the last two weeks he'd been letting her know whenever he was leaving. In the mornings when he'd come into his room for clothes, he'd pause by the bed and softly whisper he was off to class. While it was the smallest of gestures, it still left her smiling for hours.

She dozed off only moments before the front door opened.

-------------------

He went all over town, sitting in parks, walking through empty side streets, anyplace where his mind could think. He even found himself at Elizabeth's door, ready to give her a piece of his mind, but he shrugged off the idea and left her door unknocked. 'What good would it do anyway?' he had asked himself.

As he set his keys down, he glanced over at his bedroom door, ready to go in and tell her how he felt. He wanted to pour out his heart and soul and tell her everything, and for a moment he seriously contemplated on doing it, until Greg's door opened.

"Hey, where've you been?" he asked in a low voice scratching his shirtless torso.

"Studying," he lied. He wasn't in the mood to talk, much less to the person he didn't exactly want to see at the moment.

"Hmm," Greg scratched his arm, as a yawn escaped his lips. "Well she was pretty worried ya know,"

'Worried?' he thought to himself, as the thought of Corrine worrying over him made him smile. "Yeah," he said trying to sound apathetic. He walked over to his door, and quietly turned the knob.

Inside the room was completely pitch black, and as his eyes adjusted the darkness, he soon found himself looking at Corrine, who was sound asleep. His eyes lingered on her motionless body for a few seconds, until he forced himself to snap out of it. The dresser was only a few steps away, and he quietly tiptoed his way to it, careful not to wake her up.

On the way out the door he had a sudden urge to kiss her, just a gentle, friendly kiss goodnight. 'Friendly?' he scoffed in his mind, as he forced himself out the door. It would mean everything but.

-------------------

The next morning Corrine woke up to the smell of fresh coffee. She lazily opened her eyes, inhaling in the deep rich aroma, to find Vaughn sitting on the edge of the bed, holding onto a nice tall mug. A smile tried to surface it's way up, but Corrine still felt too groggy. "Leaving?" she assumed.

Vaughn shook his head. "I'm free today," he announced. There was hope in his voice that wanted her to get the hint.

And it was all he needed to say to get her to understand just exactly what he had in mind. And as he waved the cup temptingly in front of her eyes, Corrine could only smile. Her heart raced at the idea of spending time together.

**1 WEEK LATER **

With bags checked in, and tickets in hand, the two of them sat patiently waiting to board the plane, while the other pair sat restless in their seats.

Marshall dug through his carry-on relentlessly, looking for his mp3 player, while Lucas impatiently tapped his foot on the carpeted floor as he felt a cold sweat dot his forehead.

"Are you alright?" Marshall asked pausing from his search.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah," It was a lie.

Josie sat scanning over her boarding pass. It still hasn't hit her that she was going off to London to see Corrine and Vaughn. And she had only one person she had to thank for it. Ever since last week, she hadn't gotten a chance to show her former teacher the proper gratitude he clearly deserved, and now, she thought, was the perfect time.

"You didn't have to all do this, you know," she began slowly.

Z, who had been watching planes come in, looked to his right. "I know."

"Well, my mom says she'll pay you back," There was something in his voice that told her there was no point in arguing, but she thought it was the rightful thing to pay him back for all the trouble he went through to buy all four of them tickets.

Z lifted a hand in the air. "Don't worry about it," He shook his head. Getting his money back didn't exactly cross his mind when he was purchasing them, and it still hadn't. "Only for my favorite science club, right?"

"Well, thanks," Josie smiled as she settled back into her seat. It was awfully nice of him.

After over hearing the conversation, Marshall took another pause from his search and stood up, setting down his bag on the chair. "Oh come here you," he exclaimed with his arms reaching out for a hug.

-------------------

It had been nothing short of a miracle, as Vaughn wanted to believe. After their outing last week, he and Corrine became practically became best friends. And it couldn't have come at a better time too, now that Greg had school and the play to juggle, there wasn't much of him hanging around as before. And less Greg meant more Corrine.

It was a selfish thought, but Vaughn was thankful for the turn of events.

Although they were practically inseparable, the matter of Vaughn's feelings had yet to be expressed. Now as he watched her apply a liberal amount of cream cheese to a bagel, he wanted more than anything to let her know.

"Did I tell you I got a call last night from Josie?" Her voice was cool, as she kept her eyes fixated on the round peice of bread.

The name caught his attention. 'Josie,' he repeated silently. It had been over a month since they exchanged any form of words. She hadn't bothered to call, email, or send him any letters so communication was difficult, but then again neither had he. "No? How is she?" he wanted to sound apathetic, yet slightly interested at the same time.

She took a bite from her breakfast, then sipped from her coffee. "You won't believe what she had to say,"

The cafe was packed now, mostly with businessmen, with their classy black suits and shiny shoes. Vaughn had been distracted by a father who had hauled in his three kids, who are all jumping, screaming, and running around. Somehow they were a refreshing sight amongst the formal suited men and their briefcases. He turned back to give Corrine his undivided attention. "Try me,"

After another bite she attempted to deliver the news. "Well, guess where she is right now?" She wanted to sound composed when she told him, but she could feel the excitement rushing through her body.

"Hawaii?" he guessed without effort.

"Nope," she smiled flashing her perfect set of white teeth. "Guess again,"

He didn't like guessing games very much, but for Corrine he endured another try. "Florida?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. She's with Marshall, Lucas and Z," she paused for added suspense. "on a plane,"

The idea as perposterous as it first sounded, started to become a likely situation. He could imagine the science club, or what was rest of it, going on a trip together. He imagined them heading to some science museum, with Z lecturing the entire time. "to where? Florida?" he joked.

"Vaughn," she scolded and without giving it much thought her hand reached forward and landed lightly ontop of his. "they're coming here!"

It was the last place he would have thought of. Not that he never imagined them coming to London for a visit, he could, it just felt so sudden.

The surprise left him literally speechless as he sat there drinking in the news. Even Corrine's soft hands still over his, was far from his mind.

-------------------

**I had a bad case of writers block for this chapter. I think it turned out great though, even on the short side. Hope you guys do too.**


	19. Ch19 Breaking News

Odd Couples  
Ch. 19: Breaking News

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

It hadn't occurred to him that his hand was still covered by hers. The news of this visit literally pushed everything out of his mind, so that all he could concentrate on was Josie, Lucas, Marshall and Z.

Josie. He lingered on the idea of seeing her again. It would be nice he decided, and it would be the chance, he realized, to finally gain closure to their relationship. Not that it wasn't already over, but his lack of an explanation left him feeling guilty from time to time, or whenever the name 'Josie' was brought up.

As Vaughn sank deeper in his reverie, Corrine couldn't help but feel like the bearer of bad news. He hadn't shown any signs of excitement, or happiness, as she had when she first found out. Was seeing their friends that bad? Was that the reason why he moved to London? To escape from all of them? Did that include her? She gave his hand a frim squeeze, but started to feel hesitant at the thought of him not genuinely liking her.

It curtly brought him back into reality, and he noticed for the first time how soft her hands were.

"You don't seem too excited," she observed.

When he looked up, he met her worried gaze. He didn't like seeing her worried, especially if he was the cause of it. He sat up straight, and to his surprise squeezed her hand back. And he secretly wondered how they appeared to everyone. "No, I'm very excited," he paused when she withdrew her hand. "It's...doesn't it seem...sudden?"

So he wasn't excited, she detected, from the last part of his statement. Corrine sighed. Maybe he wanted to avoid them after all. And maybe that included her. 'Ridiculous,' she scolded herself for even thinking it. If he didn't like her--as a friend, she added--then he wouldn't be having breakfast with her, or any of those other times. And if he didn't like her, he would definitely not have come to pick her up at the airport, and given her that rose.

She lingered on the memory of the white rose. How special she felt when Vaughn pulled it out for her. How her heart raced then, despite her denial.

-------------------

Marshall tilted his head as far as he could from Z, but the fact that he had the window seat, and because Z's head had been tilted towards him, prevented him from escaping his loud and obnoxious snores. He glanced back regretfully at the seat that should have been his. If he wasn't such a good friend, he would have left Lucas the seat next to Z.

He tried staring out the window hoping it would be relaxing; but it was anything but. The wing was right beneath the window, and he could hear the slight whooping noise the air made outside. Curtly he brought down the shade and decided to join Z in his nap. But after 20 minutes of failed attempts he brought out his mp3 player and decided to listen to music instead.

The soothing voice of Michael Buble only intensified his thoughts of Corrine. He closed his eyes imagining what would happen when he arrived; he'd come off the plane, she'd run up to him, give him a hug, and beg him to take her back. A smile appeared on his lips, and after a few more ridiculous fantasies he finally nodded off to sleep.

-------------------

"I was thinking since I had class when their flight arrived, that you could go pick them up,"

He could imagine it now, him meeting up with Z, Josie, Lucas and Marshall. He'd be forced to have long, endless conversations with them. What a disaster that would end up being. "I've got class too," he lied. "We can ask Greg,"

Corrine appeared to give it some thought, then nodded her head in agreement. "I guess," then added as an afterthought, "He'd have to hold up one of those signs though," she giggled at the image of Greg holding up a cardboard sign with 'science club' scribbled on the front in big bold letters.

-------------------

**I know, this is the shortest chapter, but since the science club's arrival happens next, I wanted to make that into a new chapter. Just bear with me readers. And as always read and review.**


	20. Ch20 Awkward Reunions

Odd Couples  
Ch. 20: Awkward Reunions

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

It was a quarter past noon when their plane touched ground. An air of excitement hovered over the group as they left the plane and waited at baggage claim.

Josie's eyes followed the revolving belt and a particularly bright pink bag. The boys were behind her chatting about something called The London Eye, but she hardly could keep up with their conversation as her thoughts kept drifting back to Vaughn.

"Isn't that yours?" she heard Marshall ask.

She looked over to where he had been pointing and spotted her faded leather suitcase. "Yeah," she nodded and attempted to follow it out of the crowd. After retrieving her luggage, she headed back to the group who likewise had found theirs and were ready to head out.

"Anyone know how to get to Corrine's?" Z asked as he led his former students out of the airport.

"I've got her address," Marshall said somewhat breathlessly. He quickened his pace to catch up with Z.

But suddenly Z stopped in his tracks, and looked at the three of them. "Josie, you sure she said we could stay with her?"

The question failed to reach her ears. She was stuck in her own reverie, thinking about what she'd do when she'd see Vaughn. Would she give him a hug? Or would she just say hi? Or maybe neither. 'You're here to see Corrine,' she scolded herself. But the ridiculous thought of Corrine being with Vaughn suddenly plagued her thoughts. 'No,' she thought. She decided her best friend wouldn't do anything like that.

It was then that she heard snapping in the distance, but realized it had been coming from Marshall. "Josie?"

"Yeah?" she asked feeling lost.

Z merely looked at her with an inquisitive expression.

Before she could ask what was going on, Lucas grabbed Z's attention. "I think that's us," he said slowly, motioning to a dark haired guy holding onto a sign just outside the glass doors of the airport.

"Science club," Marshall read aloud. "Yup, that's definitely us," he nodded and started to head out.

Z, Josie and Lucas looked at each other questioningly.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Marshall called out when he realized he was walking alone.

The rest of them hesitated, but after a few moments of standing they decided to follow.

-------------------

He had to get out of the house before Corrine did to make his lie a little more believable. He decided he'd stay at the library for an hour or two, then head out for lunch, and by then Corrine should be home from class. And also by then his friends would have arrived.

As he strolled through the long shelves of books, he suddenly noticed a familiar girl browsing on the opposite side. The mere sight of her caused a rush of anger in him now knowing how badly she has treated Corrine. What had he been thinking when he took her out on a date, and then spent the night at her place?

He looked behind him, and realized he had walked more than half the length of the shelves, and a speedy exit was out the question. His only option was to keep walking, or turn the other way. But with either solution there was still that chance she'd notice him.

He sighed, and braved on forward keeping his eyes glued in front of him. If she called him, he decided, he'd give her the cold shoulder. He nearly cringed when he reached her knowing for sure she'd notice him, but strangley she didn't utter a word, nor did she even look up from the shelves.

With a sigh of relief Vaughn sped out of the library and decided to take his lunch early.

-------------------

"So Vaughn and Corrine couldn't come, so they asked me to pick you guys up," Greg explain.

Marshall secretly didn't like how he referred to Vaughn and Corrine as 'they', and he also didn't like the fact that neither of them couldn't come. In his mind he thought of it a little suspicious. "Exactly where are they?" he asked approaching Greg with an eyebrow arched up inquisitively.

"They've got class," Greg simply answered stepping back.

"And exactly who are you?" Marshall kept prodding not letting Greg out of his sight.

The science club stood behind him rolling their eyes and sighing impatiently. "Leave it Marshall," said Lucas.

"No, no, that's alright. Where are my manners? I'm Greg, Vaughn's room mate," he smiled and extended his hands to all four of them. Marshall looked down hesitantly before shaking it.

That's when Josie noticed his accent, or lack thereof. "You're not British?" she surprised her self by asking.

"Uh, no, Seatle," he walked over promptly and took her bags from her hands. "Shall we? I didn't park very far,"

-------------------

Corrine was anxious, and could hardly concentrate on her professors lecture. Her mind kept drifting back to her friends. And her eyes kept glancing up at the clock. Time couldn't move any slower.

When class finally wrapped up, Corrine did her best to get home as quickly as possible. Usually she'd leisurely stroll through the park near Vaughn's apartment, but this time she decided to cut corners and take the shortest way back home. She was anxious, excited, and frightfully nervous.

When she finally reached the top of the stairs, and the front door, she was breathless. Quickly she composed herself, and straightened out her clothes. Then slowly she slid her key in, and turned the knob.

And there was Vaughn.

-------------------

"This is it," Greg said picking out the key from his chain.

Josie watched him in admiration as he opened the door with little effort even with both hands full with her bags. She looked down at her empty hands and started to feel guilty for letting him struggle with hers, although, she noted there were no signs of struggling coming from him. When she looked back up, the door opened to a wonderfully spacious and modern apartment.

Greg turned around, "Mi casa es su casa," he said playfully, and stepped aside for them.

The apartment was quiet and appeared empty. The Science club set their belongings down and stood awkwardly by the front door and kitchen, it wasn't long until one of them found Greg's sculpture.

"Bought that at an auction," he told Lucas who looked up and smiled politely not knowing what to say. "Please, make yourself at home,"

As the four of them hesitantly made their way across the room to the couch, one of the bedroom doors suddenly opened, and out popped a familiar face.

-------------------

Her eyes brightened up at the sight of her old friends. "You're here!" she exclaimed running up to give them all hugs and welcome them to her temporary home. In her excitement she had utterly forgotten about the pair of boxers in her hands that she had gotten for Vaughn from his room.

"How was you're trip?" she asked motioning them into the living room. Marshall watched her hand curiously, wondering what she was holding.

"A nightmare," he answered. He remembered how little sleep he got, but regardless he didn't feel the least bit tired.

"I thought it was tolerable," Lucas objected.

Everyone watched Corrine who seemed restless as she paced relentlessly, picking up little bits of trash and dusting off seemingly clean surfaces with her free hand. "I'm sorry it's such a mess," she apologized brushing off an arm of the sofa. "You guys want anything to drink? Or maybe something to eat? I'm sorry, I bet you're all tired. You guys feel free to get some rest."

Lucas and Marshall looked over at Z for assistance. "In due time Corrine," he simply said.

"Yeah, we're not exactly tired. Or Hungry," said Lucas.

"Or thirsty," Marshall added.

"Corrine, don't worry about it. Everything is perfect," Josie assured.

Corrine nodded and smiled. She just wanted everything to be perfect. "Alright," she said and let her hand fall to her side.

"When exactly will we be expecting Vaughn?" Z asked quickly switching subjects.

At that moment, even before Corrine or Greg could give an answer, the second door on the other wall opened. Everyone's eyes curiously shot in that direction. Behind the curtain of steam emerged a Vaughn clad only in a solitary towel. "Corrine, whatever happened to my..." he trailed off when he felt his mouth suddenly go dry at the sight of seven pairs of scrutinizing eyes staring at his semi-nude body.

-------------------

**So much is going to happen in the upcoming chapters, I'm certainly excited about this part of the story. And as always, I'd love your feedback.  
**


	21. Ch21 Silence isn't Golden

Odd Couples Ch. 21: Silence isn't Golden 

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

It was suspicious enough that he was half naked, with Corrine holding a pair of his boxers, but after he hastily excused himself, without even a single word of acknowledgement to any of them, suspicions rose even higher.

Josie and Marshall looked at each other, but neither said a word.

After pulling out two chairs from the dining table into the living room for him and Corrine to sit on, Greg promptly excused himself. Suddenly everything became quiet.

Everyone looked around in silence.

This was not how she pictured their arrival. Firstly, she would have been ready when they walked through the door, and she would have definitely not have been caught dead in the middle of fetching Vaughn a pair of boxers. And secondly, she would have tried harder not to make things seem awkward between her and Marshall.

It was all just wrong timing.

Josie smiled at Corrine, who smiled back in return. "Nice place," she complimented.

Greg who was busying himself in the kitchen came out with an armful of snacks and drinks. "Thanks," he answered.

"Yeah, this is pretty much all Greg," Corrine added. She looked up from her seat and smiled.

"But wait till you see Corrine's new apartment. Now that's a looker,"

"Yeah, when do we get to see it?" It was the first time since their arrival that Marshall spoke to her directly. And when she answered she could hardly get herself to look him straight in the eyes.

"Soon, hopefully," She focused her attention on the red bag of chips on the coffee table, since her eyes refused to look at him. "They're still finishing up construction."

"Whatever happened to the one you were so excited about?" Lucas asked. He remembered her showing him and Josie a photo of a homely brick building, with a picturesque garden and window shutters while they were at the airport. She had sounded excited about moving in.

Greg chuckled, but let Corrine answer.

"False advertisement," she simply put it, glancing at Greg who took the seat next to her.

Z nodded in agreement. "Never can trust the internet,"

Lucas objected immediately. "Not exactly," and afterwards, they stayed on the subject for several minutes as Corrine sat back and took in the scene. She would have never imagined having all of her friends with her in London.

"So who was the lucky guy?" she heard Greg whisper into her ear, and she blushed when she saw Marshall glance in her direction.

-------------------

After a few more minutes she excused herself, as Greg bragged about his new role in a play; everyone seemed genuinely interested, and hardly noticed her leave.

It took several knocks, until she heard a voice on the opposite side. Quietly she let herself in.

She found Vaughn sitting on the edge of her bed--his bed--slipping on a pair of socks. He looked up, and smiled reassuringly. "Well, that was awkward," she leaned against the door.

"You have no idea,"

"You don't have class later do you?"

He shook his head, "No. Why?"

"Well I figured we'd take them out, you know show them around of course," Just as when she was talking to Marshall, she was looking everywhere but at Vaughn, and when she finally locked eyes with him, she found her knees feeling week under his gaze, just as it had been that night the power went out.

She scolded herself for acting so...unlike herself.

"Yeah, definitely," he said, not taking his eyes off her.

"Okay,"

Their conversation was quick and to the point. And when she turned around to leave, she felt Vaughn get up and move behind her. "Maybe you should wait a few seconds before you come out," she said quietly to the door.

He realized she didn't want anyone suspecting anything especially after the previous incident. He understood, but it wasn't like there was anything to suspect anyway. He hesitated and stepped back wanting to respect her wishes.

-------------------

She was already seated for a good minute when he came out, all smiles--an act, she figured.

"Hey," he greeted as if nothing embarrassing previously happened.

Everyone looked up. "Vaughn!" Marshall cried out, and surprised Corrine, by getting up to give him a hug.

Obviously, everyone else was surprised too.

"H-hey, Marshall," he hesitantly hugged him back, patting him lightly.

Corrine suppressed her laughter. It was truly out of character for Marshall to sound so excited to see Vaughn.

Marshall stepped back, and as quickly as he got up, took his seat again. As if embarrassed by his unexpected actions, he promptly buried a hand in chip bag, and stuffed his mouth with a handful of chips. Corrine noticed Lucas scold him, as some crumbs flew on his lap.

"Nice of you to finally join us," it was Z who got up next to greet him. He extended a hand out formally as if he was meeting Vaughn for the first time.

Vaughn smiled wholeheartedly at the sight of his favorite science teacher. Ignoring the outstretched hand, he reached out and gave him a hug. And unlike the one he gave Marshall, it was a genuine hug that he felt was long overdue. "I should be saying that to you guys. I hope you're not too tired out from the flight?"

"I feel strangely...younger," Z teased, and sat back down. "I think London's just what I've been needing,"

"It certainly grows on you, I'll tell you that," he let his eyes linger on Corrine who was coincidentally looking back at him.

He was looking at her again with that same strong piercing gaze, although this time there was a touch of uncertainty--a touch of tenderness--that made her heart beat faster. He smiled in satisfaction when he thought he saw a hint of color rise to her cheeks. She looked away, and he was forced to return to his friends.

He looked over at Lucas, and noticed he wasn't wearing those ridiculous goggle glasses anymore. "Love the new glasses Lucas," he complimented the newer sleeker brown frames.

Lucas sat there awkwardly not knowing whether or not to get up and hug him like Marshall and Z did. "Thanks," he simply said. "I like the new apartment," he added to equal out the sides.

"Thanks,"

As his eyes wandered over the littered coffee table, that he remembered Corrine clearing off minutes before they arrived, he knew that the only person left was Josie. He desperately didn't want to make things awkward between them, and he wished saying 'hi' didn't have to be so much trouble. He swallowed, as he slowly moved his gaze in her direction.

Corrine sensed his anticipation, and watched with sympathy as their first physical conversation since the day Vaughn left unfolded before her.

"Hey Josie,"

It became suddenly dead silent, even as everyone did anything to make it appear like they weren't listening. Marshall and Z appeared to study the ingredients list on the back of a chip bag, and Lucas played with a Big Ben keychain he found in the airport. Greg sat silently, with his head tilted up towards the ceiling.

"Hey," she returned.

"I'm glad you could come," he literally had to forced himself to say it, as it wouldn't come out freely on its own.

She smiled. "Me too,"

There was a moment of awkward silence where everyone looked up from their doings, but it quickly passed. "You know, I really enjoyed that scrapbook you made,"

It took a second for it to register in her brain. "Yeah, it was just something I threw together."

Vaughn cleared a spot on the coffee table, and sat down. "No, it was really good," he continued. He seemed genuinely engaged in the conversation.

Suddenly, it wasn't sympathy she felt as she watched the two converse like old friends. It wasn't anything close to being sympathy.

-------------------

**I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Feedback is always greatly appreciated.**


	22. Ch22 Nosey

Odd Couples  
Ch. 22: Nosey

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

Trafalgar Square was their first and only stop that afternoon--not including the 20 minutes they wasted waiting for coffee--, as the sun was already beginning to set. With the seven of them sharing a single bathroom, getting ready wasn't an easy task.

When they arrived, everyone had unconsciously wandered off in pairs, except Z who rested at the edge of the fountain reading a local magazine and sipping coffee.

"So how's London treating you?" he asked. He had his hands in his pocket, and as he talked he didn't bother to look at her.

When Corrine looked up she saw Marshall watching Vaughn and Josie, and she too let her gaze linger on them before answering, wondering what they could be talking about. They looked happy together, almost as if they never broke up. "Great,"

There was an odd sense of uneasiness between them, and it served as a type of force field against any attempts at a stable conversation. So far, they managed to exchange at most, 3 lines each in regards to the weather. But when it came to personal matters, one word answers seemed to sum it up.

She saw him nod, but he didn't bother to say anything else. "I hear Grant's back at home," she started, hoping to spark a little interest. She glanced again over at Vaughn. They appeared to be in their own world. And she wish she could say the same about her and Marshall.

"Yeah," he simply said with sigh, which irritated her that he couldn't even try to keep up a conversation.

They were strolling leisurely around the fountain for several minutes more, when they ran into Greg and Lucas.

"Hey," Lucas had a suggestive grin, as his eyes moved back and forth between her and Marshall.

Corrine narrowed her eyes playfully and shook her head. She wouldn't be lying if she said there was nothing going on between them. In fact, it would be the truth. She couldn't say it though; Marshall was always the kind of guy who took things to heart.

Instead, she looked over at Greg.

"Took any good pictures?" she asked. Greg brought along his camera and had been taking random shots of the surrounding metropolitan scenery. The sky was turning a beautiful orange red when they arrived, and she had no doubts that the pictures would turn out amazing--as always.

"I always do," he teased.

It then suddenly turned into silence as the four of them looked around awkwardly; Marshall especially looking uneasy.

Thankfully it was Vaughn's voice that broke the tension. "How about some dinner?" he asked rubbing his hands together. He came up behind Corrine, and the sudden sound of his voice startled her.

She heard him chuckle between his words, and she had felt his hand resting on her back. It was the slightest touch, but it was noticeable neverthless and whether or not it had been intentional, it still slightly weakened her in the knees. She figured it must have been obvious, because she saw Marshall watching her questioningly, then glance down and then up at Vaughn.

-------------------

Dinner had gone smoothly, or as smoothly as it could have gone. At everyone's request, Greg found a place that served exceptional fish and chips, and even voluntarily picked up the bill at the end of the meal. Corrine remembered Vaughn giving him a hostile stare as he slipped his wallet back in his pocket.

During the meal, Marshall had finally started to open up, not just to her but to everyone as well. She thanked the alcohol partially for it.

He brought up Grant's upcoming wedding and how his new sister-in-law to be was the most annoying woman he had ever met. It was then that Lucas admitted he forgot to give Z the invitation he promised Grant he'd deliver. It really didn't seem to matter, as Z said he'd personally pay him a visit when they got back home.

And while there were still some awkwardness between her and Marshall, Corrine couldn't be happier that he finally started acting a little more like himself, and a little less strange.

"Is the girl playing Elizabeth a hottie?" Lucas asked. Somehow as they all walked back to the apartment conversation drifted back to Greg's play.

"You would ask," Josie playfully slapped him on the arm.

Vaughn chose to walk a few paces behind; he already heard enough about the play. And he was thankful when he saw Corrine look back, and intentionally fall behind to walk with him.

"Why are you back here?" she asked joining him at his side.

He purposely slowed down so they'd fall back a few more steps from the group. "Just thinking,", he said.

"About Josie?" She didn't know why she asked. It just seemed to come out on it's own.

Honestly he had been thinking about Josie here and there, but nothing serious. Mostly about how much she had changed over the summer. 'About you,' he imagined saying, but could never get the nerves to. "Just everything," was his answer.

Corrine looked up. The sky was clear, and the stars shone perfectly bright above them. There was dip in the sidewalk that she hadn't noticed and carelessly stumbled over it.

Instinctively Vaughn brought an arm around her to catch her fall. "Are you alright?" he glanced over at the group, who hadn't even suspected anything.

"Yeah," she managed, bringing a hand up to her forehead. His arm was still around her, and she remembered the moment at Trafalgar square when she felt his hand on her back.

"What?" she heard him ask. And then she noticed how she was smiling like a fool.

-------------------

Back at the apartment everyone started getting ready for bed. The bathroom was once again in full use for a straight 2 hours, until it's light's turned off at midnight at last.

Vaughn gave up his make-shift bed for Josie, and settled for the sofa bed in the living room, which he had to share involuntarily with Greg who had given up his bed for Lucas. Z was persistent that he didn't need a bed, and could settle for two chairs or the floor even, but seemed to be in hurry to accept when he found there was a chaise lounge in Greg's room.

"Marshall can sleep with me," Corrine said lightly, not realizing the under meaning until several moments later.

Vaughn's ears shot up, and he literally almost dropped the glass of water in his hands. He listened to the conversation closely.

Z had shook his head in disapproval. "As an adult chaperone," he began emphasizing the word adult, "I think it would be best if Josie bunked with you instead,"

"But Josie's already asleep. And you know how cranky she gets if you wake her up,"

For a moment, Vaughn couldn't believe what Corrine was saying. It hardly sounded like her at all. Why, just a few hours ago they she and Marshall were hardly talking, and now they wanted to share a room together? After a moment of silence, he heard Z sigh in defeat, and he suddenly felt genuinely concerned.

"But you leave the door open," Z added looking especially at Marshall. "And tomorrow it will be Josie instead,"

Corrine and Marshall nodded obediently. They had shared the same bed on their backpacking trip. It definitely wasn't anything new.

After Z left, Corrine chuckled to herself.

"What?" Marshall asked.

She wanted to tell him how ridiculous Z sounded assuming what their--or Marshall's--"real" intentions were that night. It wasn't like that. It was nothing like that. They were just two friends sharing a bed. And, Corrine figured she could use the alone time with Marshall to talk certain things over.

-------------------

When all the lights went out, Vaughn lay wide awake staring up at the ceiling with his ear perked up in hopes to hear the conversation in the next room. But all he could hear was Greg's loud, and irritating breathing.

He nudged him with an elbow, maybe a little harder than necessary.

"The hell?" Greg propped himself up with his elbows and glared down at Vaughn. The room was dark, but he could tell he was giving him a nasty look.

"Breath like a normal person. You don't have asthma!" Vaughn replied icily.

Greg didn't say anything back in defense. He merely kept his equally cold stare fixated on his roommate. Then suddenly as if giving up, lay back down. "Quit being nosey," he said after a few minutes.

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**Had major writer's block. Hope it all turned out fine. Have a nice day guys.**


	23. Ch23 What Corrine Saw

Odd Couples

Ch. 23: What Corrine Saw

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

He eased out of bed, careful not to stir his roommate--although he wouldn't mind disrupting his peaceful slumber. He deserved it, anyway for all the troubles he caused him. And for acting like the epitome of a perfect gentlemen, and making him look bad.

The clock over the tv set read a quarter past 3, and still he had no luck of finding sleep. His thoughts were constantly on Corrine.

What was she thinking? Are she and Marshall still awake? What could they be talking about? Maybe I should go check up on them? were some of the questions that plagued his thoughts. That along with the occasional recollections of the past days. And even when it seemed he finally let his mind rest, he would imagine hearing Marshall's whispering, and then Corrine's laughter, and then the questions started all over again.

He figured a trip to the kitchen for a drink of water would help, but his body made a slight detour and unconsciously headed for the opened door to his left instead.

He let his head poke in. The room was still and dark like the rest of the apartment, but he saw them--or their bodies, as clear as day. It relieved him to see that they were as far apart from each other as his king bed would let them. And as far as he could tell, there was not a single sound he could hear. It was obvious that both of them were already sleeping.

Just as he was about to to start his way back to the kitchen he noticed movement coming from the bed, and at that split second, as ridiculous as it may sound, his heart started to beat a little faster with curiosity and anticipation. His eyes grazed over the two lumps on his bed, and realized one was shifting ever so slowly to the other.

He swallowed hard. And his eyes narrowed. It couldn't have been anyone else but Marshall, or he assumed.

-------------------

That morning everyone woke up to the inviting aroma of a fresh pot of coffee, courtesy of Greg, who unfortunately for everyone else but Vaughn, left early for class and merely left a note on the fridge. "Enjoy your day," it read.

"So what's the plan for today?" Josie asked.

Corrine spooned in some sugar into her straight black coffee and was stirring it around. "I've got class in a few hours," she answered as she dropped in another spoonful of sugar. She was oblivious to the fact that from across the kitchen Marshall watched her longingly.

"Me too," Vaughn added glancing over at Corrine from the brim of his cup.

"--Gonna be breezy one today," Z shouted from the couch.

Everyone seemed to pause and look over in his direction, although no one seemed to have anything to say in return.

"I guess you guys will be on your own today. At least untill we get back." she smiled reassuringly at Vaughn, before walking over to the living room where Z sat and watched the local news station.

When she left, everyone looked around in awkward silence.

Vaughn stared down at the the counter where the spoon Corrine used in her coffee lay on a paper towel. He could hear her voice hovering over from the living room as she talked to Z. He caught bits and pieces of their conversation, but nothing substantial, and nothing really important. It didn't really make a difference to him that some man rescued a crippled dog, or that the high for the day would be in lower 60's.

He also started to hear the distinct voices of his three friends talking about museums and bus tours.He disregarded their typical tourist plans, and let his mind wander.

He didn't feel like going to class; truth be told he never did, but today he felt exceptionally unwilling. All he wanted to do, surprisingly, was spend the day with his friends.

"What do you think Vaughn?" he heard Josie ask a minute later.

He hadn't been following with their conversation, but he knew enough to know that they were still on the subject of attractions. Personally, if he were to make a decision for them, the last place he'd send them to would be to a museum. Or a bus tour for that matter. "Can't go wrong with museums," he said anyway.

"What about a bus tour?" Lucas asked.

"Or a boat tour?" Marshall asked.

Vaughn simply nodded in silence, appearing to give their questions some consideration, when really he could care less where they ended up going. But the three pairs of eyes stared back at him expectantly, and he felt pressured to give them an answer. Luckily, however, Corrine was there to interrupt.

"--Hey Vaughn," she called from the living room.

And like a lightning bolt, he sped into her direction.

-------------------

An hour later Vaughn emerged from his room with hardly anything in his arms that might have suggested he was leaving for school. "I should be back around three," he announced. But the only person that seemed to hear it was Lucas who was watching the news; Corrine who was washing her hands in the kitchen couldn't hear his words due to the running water. "Where's everyone?" he asked looking around at the empty apartment. It was awkwardly clean, and there didn't seem to be a single trace that guests existed in the vicinity--except Lucas.

"Well, Marshall is in Greg's room, I think Z's taking a shower, and Josie mentioned something about satisfying her sweet tooth--you just missed her." It was all explained by Lucas who hardly took his eyes off the TV set.

"Right, I'll see you guys later." Vaughn walked briskly to the door hoping maybe to catch up with Josie, and along the way he paused by the kitchen and watched Corrine. She was dressed in dark jeans and a white ruffled blouse. Vaughn thought she looked classy as she sashayed around the kitchen trying to tidy up; no wonder the apartment was so clean. "Hey,"

"Hey," She spun around, and in the act she dropped the roll of paper towels she had in her hands. But before she could bend down and pick it up, Vaughn came forward and stole it.

"Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving," he smiled and returned the towels to her. "And I'll see you later,"

She nodded. "Yeah, okay,"

-------------------

Out in the hallway Josie finished up retying her shoes. The same shoes that her mother had bought her specifically for her trip London. They weren't anything special just a new pair of Chucks to replace her old ones.

"Josie!" his voice called out.

She could hear a door being shut and then footsteps getting closer, and when she finally looked up he was already standing there beside her. "Hey Vaughn," she stood up and smoothed out her track pants, which her mother had also bought specifically for London.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride," He offered.

Josie smiled but shook her head decidedly. "That's okay. I don't want you to have to go out of your way for me."

"I don't mind,"

"Really Vaughn, I can walk. I don't want you being late," she reasoned.

"And I don't want you to having to walk and then getting lost. London's a big city," he argued back.

She was staring straight into his eyes, thinking he had always been so stubborn. Suddenly she felt his hand wrap around hers. "C'mon," she heard him say as he pulled her with him down the hall.

Behind them Corrine came out with her bag slung over her shoulders, and a few books neatly in her arms. As she shut the door and began to head down the hall, she noticed two familiar figures hand in hand making their way down the stairwell. She shook her head, hoping to clear out her assumptions, but there was no mistaking who the two figures had been.

-------------------

It was around three when Corrine finished lunch with a fellow classmate, and began to head back home. Her mind was so hung up on everything that happened that day, that she hadn't noticed the car slowly riding beside her on the street.

"Hey sexy," a voice from the car shouted out.

Initially she hadn't heard it, and after a second shout from whoever was in the car, Corrine turned her head and noticed him with his head poking out of the rolled down window. "Hop in," he made a gesture with his head and pulled the car over to a stop.

At first she thought she had been dreaming. Had he just called her sexy? She stood still, contemplating whether or not she was just being delusional, or if in fact it was real--and he was real.

All this time he had been smiling, but he must have sensed something was wrong when she didn't move, or say anything back to him. "Hey," he called out, his voice suddenly sounding concerned.

Before he could leap out of the car, she flashed him a quick and reassuring smile and hopped into the passenger side.

-------------------

"Are you okay?" he asked glancing over at her.

She hadn't said much since she got in, and it suddenly made Vaughn worry.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just a bad day at school is all," But it wasn't all of it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm accused of plagiarizing,"

"Really?" she quickly tore her attention away from the window and looked at him with concern. "Vaughn?"

He was able to keep a straight and serious face for a good 10 seconds. And then he cracked a smile. "I'm kidding okay?"

She sighed. "Good, because that wouldn't have made me feel any better."

"Really?" he glanced over at her, curious to what her reason for that might be.

"Yeah, I think it would make me worry even more,"

He chuckled. "What could you possibly have to worry over?"

'You and Josie,' she thought. "Nothing, forget it"

It quickly became silent afterwards. And Vaughn started to wonder if what she could be worrying about is her and Marshall. Which then lead to the reminder of the scene he witnessed earlier that morning.

-------------------

Z stepped forward and plucked two tickets from Marshall's grip. "Here," he handed one to Corrine and Vaughn.

"Oh, right," Marshall stopped waving the tickets around and looked over at them. "Looks like you guys are joining me and the Lucster tonight" he put his arm playfully around his friend's shoulders, who in return did the same.

Corrine stared down that the ticket and noticed the price printed on it. It was too much to take, considering how much it really cost once you did the conversions. She looked up from Z to Josie, and back again to Z. "I couldn't, these are yours"

"No, well they're yours now," Z said, using his hand to close hers around the slip of paper when she tried to hand it back to him.

"Greg invited us to go see a play with him anyway," explained Josie.

"And I'm not into all that stuff you young people get all excited about. I'd rather sit down, enjoy some good theater, and have a calm and quiet night,"

"Talk about boring," Marshal drawled, pretending to yawn and fall asleep on Lucas's shoulder. "Z, you don't know what you're missing out on,"

Corrine glanced down at the flyer Lucas had previously showed them. She cringed, and wished she would be missing out on it too. Then she felt a comforting arm wrap around her shoulders, and she looked up smiling weakly at Vaughn.

-------------------

**Despite my inability to come up with ideas for this chapter, I was surprised how much I ended up writing. I actually even wanted to add a little more, but decided to keep it for the next chapter. Regardless, I still feel as if this chapter was a little hurried, and I apologize if it doesn't satisfy you. But I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. Sorry again guys for the long wait.**


	24. Ch24 The Dungeon

Odd Couples  
Ch. 24: The Dungeon 

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!**

-------------------

The sun was still up when they got to The London Dungeon. Oddly the four of them were in a perfectly straight line, with Marshall leading the helm, followed by Lucas, then Corrine and finally Vaughn as they walked up to the entrance. No one uttered a single word.

Corrine swallowed hard when she spotted a hooded man hunched back pacing to and fro by the entrance. She didn't want to be there, but she told herself it wouldn't be so bad, it was still daytime afterall. She glanced over her shoulders and for a quick moment her eyes met with Vaughn's. He smiled at her reassuringly.

"Lucas, look. Meet yourself in ten years," Marshall pointed to the hooded man and then started laughing hysterically. His diseased skin was visible from across the street where they came from, but as they got closer, the patches of rashes and scattered boils on the man's face became more apparent. It was disgusting and hilarious all at the same time--at least for Marshall.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Very funny,"

"Isn't it?" Marshall laughed throwing his head back like a madman.

The hooded man approached the group. He had an obvious kink in his step, and when he smiled he exposed his yellow decaying teeth. Vaughn could see Corrine tense up at his nearness. "He's just an actor," he leaned into her ear and whispered.

She knew well enough it was just an actor, but with the costume, and all that make-up it still got her jumpy.

"Yeerhaftagutodeeindodeeloin," the hooded man spat out almost indistinguishably as he leered his eyes in Corrine's direction.

The others didn't even seem to mind him. "Well, at least it's moving quickly enough," Marshall pointed out, as he led the way not even bothering to acknowledge the man.

Through his rotting smile Corrine could see dark liquid seeping out between the cracks of his decaying teeth, and despite the fact that she knew it was all the master trickery of make-up, it still chilled her bones. She darted past him, even reaching out to grab hold of Lucas's arm.

"Corrine, chill," he replied coolly as he followed Marshall to the end of the line.

-------------------

They were the last to arrive, and once the doors shut behind them everything went pitch black.

"Jaysus," they heard someone say behind them.

Corrine clutched her sides making sure to stand as close as possible to Lucas, Marshall or Vaughn. But she could only feel cool air around her and realized how far away she was from her friends. "Lucas?" she called out desperately hoping she hadn't been separated. He didn't answer back, but she could vaguely hear his and Marshall's voice, and unfortunately the voices appeared to be trailing away.

Reaching out desperately with hopeful effect, she landed her hand on an arm—Vaughn's arm, she hoped, and immediately she felt reassured even in the complete darkness.

"Ey babe," she heard, but dismissed it, knowing it wasn't directed at her.

As her eyes started to get adjusted to the darkness, she suddenly realized the arm she was holding onto belonged to a complete stranger. She pulled her hand back feeling her cheeks grow intensely warm. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

The guy chuckled. "Don't worry about it, I like having pretty girls on my arm," he smiled and even from the darkness she could see his white teeth.

She smiled back at his compliment and for split second as she gazed in the stranger's eyes Corrine suddenly felt as if she had nothing to be afraid of, as long as he was in her company. In fact, she felt ready to face her fears.

"Come on Corrine, we're heading over to 'Jack the Ripper,'" she felt a hand tug at her elbow, and realized with bitter sadness that her time with the handsome stranger had come to an end. She would have very much liked to have returned his comment with something equally flirtatious, but couldn't think of anything worth saying that didn't sound unnatural. She simply smiled and regretfully walked away.

-------------------

As they strolled down the reproduced 19th century English streets, Corrine could feel a brush of cold air chill her spine.

Around them the stench of rotten eggs wafted heavily in the air adding to the authenticity of the reenacted scenes. The streets were dark, and gloomy, littered with refuse of all varieties, and besides the occasional limp body here or there they were completely alone. Behind opened doors and windows were dimly lighted or sometimes completely pitch black rooms providing the perfect setting for the disturbing images just behind them.

A few feet ahead, a man stood motionless under a dusky street lamp. His face obscure from the darkness. Corrine could feel her heart race imagining what sort of scares he had in store for them. She quickened her pace and caught up, even slightly bumping into Lucas.

"Sorry," she whispered, as she looped her arm in Marshall's.

Just a few steps behind was Vaughn watching with forced indifference as Corrine huddled closer to Marshall.

Corrine shut her eyes and tightened her grip on Marshall as they neared the mysterious man. She decided to start running at the very first sign of anything suspicious. But to the groups utter surprise nothing happened. The man neither moved, nor said anything. Everything seemed completely calm and silent.

Marshall came to stop. "I wonder if he's real?" he asked, and then slowly approached him.

"Don't. Let's keep walking," Corrine pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears.

She broke her mighty grip on Marshall's arm and stood back watching in fear as the other two began poking and prodding the man.

"Hey, look, a cell phone," Lucas announced triumphantly after pulling it our from the man's jacket pocket.

Other groups of people started to walk by. All of them curiously eyeing the group; their eyes especially hovered over Marshall and Lucas.

"He must be real then," Marshall concluded stepping back to examine the otherwise mannequin like body, and almost bumping into hefty sized bald man in his attempt. He looked back apologetically. "Corrine, you got any of that stuff you put on your lips to make it all shiny?" he then asked.

Corrine quickly glanced at Vaughn in askance. "Lip gloss?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes! That. Let me see it?" It was more of an order than a question, and Vaughn did not like his tone, nor did he enjoy waiting for them to finish their childish acts.

"No! Let's just go,"

"Come on, let's just see how long he stays put like this,"

There was no getting around it, if she wanted any hopes of leaving anytime soon, she would need to surrender it. Corrine dug in her purse and hesitantly handed over a tube of cherry red lip gloss.

As they continued their investigation and abuse on the poor man, Corrine and Vaughn watched impatiently behind them.

"Idiots," Vaughn mumbled under his breath as he pulled out his phone.

As she stood watching in utter disbelief it occurred to her that her fear of the place seemed insignificant compared to the irritation she felt towards Lucas and Marshall. Even the screams drowned out by the building's simulated eerie ambiance were of no great concern. All that was on her mind was getting out, before they got caught and kicked out.

It was a few minutes before the two gave up their foolish escapade, and the group started back walking through Jack the Ripper's lair.

The streets turned and snaked around in all different directions. There were some turns that led to dead ends, and darkened corners—both a sure fire way to get trapped and possibly scared out of your wits by some massacred victim with a hanging limb, or by Jack himself.

The lack of fear Corrine had felt moments ago seemed to dissipate at the sounds of screaming and scrambling feet farther up ahead. She looked around uncomfortably. "Where did everyone go?"

"We're all here," Vaughn answered.

"No, I mean, everyone else. There were other people besides us," she looked behind her to double check, but all she saw was Vaughn.

"Well, the place closes at five, I guess they stopped letting people in," Lucas replied as he whipped out a map from his back pocket.

The group was divided into pairs—or rather, pair, as Lucas and Marshall led the way huddling over the map, and bickering like siblings. And then there was Corrine and Vaughn who were neither walking together nor part of the other half. They were simply drifting along, silently, and quite alone.

Suddenly Marshall snapped his head back "Get ready to get the shit scared out of you," he warned jokingly as he and Lucas turned into a new street.

There were no lamps now, not even the faint flickering of candles in windows that lined the streets. A realistic wind howled in the background. There appeared to be no end, just a blackened abyss of horror. Corrine swallowed, and looked back reproachfully at Vaughn, who in response quickened his pace to walk beside her.

She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. And for a moment, she wasn't—she felt completely safe in his arms.

-------------------

I actually based some of the events in this chapter and some of the following ones from my own experiences. And the descriptions of The London Dungeon were from my own imagination as I have never had the liberty of visiting the famous attraction.

**I apologize a million times over for the delay in updates. I've been having the worst case of writer's block, as I've probably repeated for the hundredth time already. I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! ;)**

**I appreciate everyone who has remained loyal to this story even despite the long waits for updates.**


	25. Ch25 Mr Mysterious

Odd Couples  
Ch. 25: Mr. Mysterious

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!

-------------------

The deeper they walked into the darkness, the more frightening the silence became.

"How far does this go?" Lucas asked in a bare whisper as if almost afraid to disturb the "things" hiding in the darkness.

And as if answering his question, the street curved and revealed what appeared to be the end of their walk—an old deteriorating brick facade, with an appropriately rotting plaque that read "hospital".

At first sight, Corrine breathed in relief at the glowing exit sign that hung above the door. The end to all her fears was just beyond that plank of wood.

"Shall we?" There was a mischievous smile tugging on Marshall's lips as he cautiously approached the building.

"Try not to look," Vaughn whispered into Corrine's ear, and pulled her slightly closer to his body. The simple action left her heart beating faster than it already had been, but left her wondering why she shouldn't keep her eyes open.

And with a slight turn of the knob, their quiet darkness was suddenly transformed into frightening world of gore and psychological disturbances.

Once inside the putrid building, an ear shattering, and bone shilling scream echoed a rather unwelcome greeting. The scream took the group by surprise, so much so, that they hadn't realized the shockingly small room they were in. Or that sitting right in front of them guarding the only other way out was a stretcher draped in blood stained sheets, and under it appeared to be a body poking out, ready to grab any unsuspecting person walking by. The walls, just as the sheets were discolored, and marked with splotches of blood.

"I don't like this," she whispered just loud enough for Vaughn to hear, and buried her face into the arm of his jacket. She should have known well enough it wasn't the end, it was far too easy to have walked down the street without the least bit of a scare. No, it was definitely just starting.

And what was more frightening than an empty street in the dark, was being stuck in an enclosed building knowing there are definitely others inside.

"At least it's a little brighter in here," Lucas observed the dim sconces on the wall simulated to look like flickering candles.

The group eased their way closer to the sofa. "Give you five dollars if you look under the covers," Marshall said to Lucas who declined his offer.

"Ten," he raised the price, hoping to tempt him, but failed.

The lights, at that same moment, began to flicker wildly, until finally burning out completely, followed by another more terrifying scream.

Corrine shrieked, and Vaughn felt her grip tighten around his arm. "I wanna get out of here!"

"Ho—"started Lucas, but was abruptly cut off by a loud pounding on the door from which they just entered from.

Their options were clearly limited to heading forward past the corpse, and into the adjoining room, and try to follow their way out, or stay in the foyer a little longer, and welcome "the guest".

"Finally, this is getting good." Marshall said in a rush of excitement.

Corrine couldn't see the good that he was talking about in the situation. Frightening was what it was. She couldn't fathom how people thought this was fun? She was ready to get out of there.

"Let's see who's at the door," suggested Lucas.

It was Vaughn who finally got them to start heading out of the room. His easy calmness was a reassurance, and proved refreshing against Marshall and Lucas's immaturity.

Although the body on the sofa started to shake violently, it did nothing else close to what wild ideas that haunted Corrine's imagination. It didn't jump up exposing what mutilations happened to his body, with a pick axe gripped in one hand, or grab any of them as they walked by.

Vaughn led the way into a tight corridor. The narrowness of the passageway forced Corrine to move behind him. While her heart was beating frantically from fear, she felt a trace of sadness as he easily let her go. The safety she felt from their physical touch vanished, and she was suddenly alone. Behind her Lucas repeatedly stepped on the backs of her shoes.

"Sorry," he apologized.

There was an opened doorway in the hallway where suddenly a "patient" appeared screaming in an incomprehensible language, his head thrashing ferociously back and forth.

Corrine leaned her head into Vaughn's back, shielding herself from the terror. Moments before the surprising episode, Corrine felt Vaughn's hands seeking hers out in the darkness.

The group squeezed their way through the doorway, leaving behind the unusual patient. And it was then that the front door slammed shut. Whoever was knocking was finally inside.

The darkness of the foyer and hallway was replaced by an iridescent glow emanating from glass jars that lined the shelves of the room. Inside them were dismembered body limbs and other odd bits and ends. In the center of the room lay a metal table layered with a thick coating of rust. On it laid various instruments, all appearing to have been taken right off a horror movie, complete with an appropriate layer of rust and the remnants of blood.

The indistinct ramblings of their previous encounter were replaced with involuntary screams of torture, and then a deafening silence. It was the signal to keep going before whatever it was caught up with them.

But the treading feet came all too fast.

"Stay with me, okay?"

It took a few seconds for it to register, and for Corrine to realize it came from Vaughn and that it was directed at her. She looked up and nodded even without knowing what she was getting herself into. His wonderful honest eyes stared into hers for a delightful moment, and she would have said yes to anything he would have asked—no matter how absurd.

"You guys go ahead," Vaughn told Marshall and Lucas, motioning to the next room.

At the first sound of his proposal Corrine protested, insisting to tag along with them and increase her chances of getting out faster rather than staying behind.

"Okay, but as a concerned ex-boyfriend, I think Corrine should come with us," Marshall said haughtily "She's already scared to death. Why prolong the torture?"

Vaughn didn't have to say much for her to reconsider. "That's fine, but it's still up to her to decide,"

Marshall was never one to ask for her opinions, he just always seemed to assume. Of course it wasn't always like that, but they stood out more prominently than the times when he let her have her say. It must have been telling her something.

When Marshall and Lucas left, Vaughn took hold of her hand and led her back through the doorway. "Don't worry we're getting out of here," His words served as a sweet endearment, and she found herself smiling even in the midst of everything. He actually wanted to get her out; instead of wanting to keep going for his own entertainment. In a modern way it seemed almost like a selfless act.

She awarded herself with a smile, until they met face to face with "the guest", who wiped her triumphant smile off her face. His clothes were normal enough—trousers and a white collard shirt only stained with the smallest spots of blood underneath a vest. He wasn't all too scary, Corrine decided until she looked up at his butchered face. But shockingly enough what came out of the man's mouth wasn't anything foul or threatening. It was a 'hello' in the cheerful British accent.

"Is this her?" he asked in a casual tone addressing Vaughn.

He nodded.

The man smiled brightly showing off his rows of perfect teeth. "Nice to meet you Madam," he gave a curtly bow and brushed his lips softly across her knuckles.

-------------------

I actually based some of the events in this chapter and some of the following ones from my own experiences. And the descriptions of The London Dungeon were of my own imagination as I have never had the liberty of visiting the famous attraction.

**I appreciate everyone who has remained loyal to this story even despite the long waits for updates.**


	26. Ch26 You're Cold

Odd Couples  
Ch. 26: You're Cold

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!

-------------------

"Might I add, these are the softest hands my lips have ever touched." The mysterious guy spoke quite intimately as he looked up from Corrine's hand. His eyes, Corrine noted, were dancing from the flickering wall sconces. And they were burning the most unique of colors—a mix between green and hazel.

Corrine knew she should have said thank you, but instead she stood there completely still like an idiot all the while trying to keep her composure. It wasn't exactly easy to keep one's poise in the midst of all the commotion and confusion she had witnessed. Particularly when there was a strange man appearing to be several years her senior paying her compliments with an unusually friendly tone.

Vaughn could sense her uneasiness.

"Come on, knock it off," He attempted.

He raised his bushy eye brows. "Knock what off?"

At this point Corrine's hand was set free, and in attempt to stop other efforts of any other means of physical contact she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and took a generous step back.

"You know," he started but couldn't seem to find the appropriate word to describe his friend's behavior, so he left it at that.

Mystery Man eyed him questioningly, his eyes behind the make-up almost puppy like in their confusion. "I really don't,"

"Well, for one stop talking like that."

"I'm in costume, I'm supposed to talk like this," the man reasoned.

"I don't believe you're allowed to talk at all," Vaughn retorted quite quickly initiating a few seconds of silence from his friend, lending the appearance that Vaughn had won the argument.

But suddenly both broke into laughter.

"I was just kidding," Mystery Man apologized between chuckles.

She stood there completely dumbstruck trying to produce a genuine smile that said otherwise. Moments ago she was terrified to death, and now she was just confused. She looked over at Vaughn who gave her a quick smile and then attempted to do introductions.

"Corrine this is Robert—"

"Sebastian," Mystery Man added.

Vaughn cleared his throat, "Robert Sebastian.—"

"That's my middle name," he interrupted. "Not my last. Actually I'm not particularly fond of my last name, that's why I never really use it. But I haven't ever considered changing it, which is actually very troublesome, since if I ever marry I wouldn't want my wife--"

Corrine smiled in amusement.

"Yes, we understand it's complicated," Vaughn said hastily. Knowing Robert, he could go on talking about his name for hours. Once he remembered, he had gone an hour and ten minutes straight debating with a fellow classmate—although he did most of the talking—over whether or not to get a name change. The debate, however, failed to give Robert an answer as he was still clearly undecided.

Robert breathed a sigh of relief. "You have no idea—"

"Back to the point," Vaughn continued.

"I work here at The Dungeon," Robert took the liberty of finishing it off, as if it wasn't already clear that he did. "Not only that, but I'm also here to help prince charming save his damsel in distress," and in a whisper he added, "That's you sweetheart,"

A knowing smile crept its way to Corrine's lips. She was starting to warm up to him. Suddenly he didn't seem so creepy, or that old even.

"Think we already know who prince charming is," he concluded pocketing both hands in his front trouser pockets. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he glanced over at Vaughn.

Before the conversation could go any further Vaughn needed to change the very sensitive subject fast. "—So, Seb, where did you say the exit was?"

-------------------

There was an exit conspicuously hidden in the wall of the hallway. It led to another corridor where the character changing rooms lined the walls. At the very end was a door that led to a side alley.

The alley was surprisingly well lit and they were only a short distance away from the street. But before they even took a step forward the door suddenly opened again, and out popped the charismatic Robert Sebastian.

"I just remembered I found these inside," he handed Vaughn a pair of tickets. "I guess someone must have dropped them,"

"Shouldn't you have taken them to the front? Someone is bound to be looking for these," Vaughn scanned the tickets in his hands. They were for The Eye.

The Eye was an observational wheel much similar to a ferris-wheel you'd find in a carnival; but on a much larger scale, with glass encased capsules holding up to 25 people at a time and soaring up to 440 ft. It was one of the places Corrine had always wanted to visit during her previous trip with Marshall but never had a chance to.

"Nah, I found them this morning. No one claimed them, so they're all yours,"

Vaughn felt a little hesitant to accept them. Robert must have seen it in his face as he said, "I'm stuck here all night. Wouldn't have any use for it, so you two have fun,"

As Vaughn examined how the early evening light struck the pair of cardstock he remembered how wonderful the view of the city was at night. And how coincidental it all seemed.

Before either Corrine or Vaughn could say anything, Robert disappeared and the door slowly closed shut.

-------------------

They spent an hour strolling at an easy pace through the winding side streets before any mention of food arose.

"I didn't realize I was this hungry," Corrine said as she scooped a generous amount of pistachio gelato onto her spoon.

"Maybe we should be eating something a bit more wholesome," Vaughn who was craving something along the lines of a three course meal, particularly one including steak, suggested. He poked his spoon dubiously at the brown speckled frozen dessert in his cup.

"Nonsense; don't you like it?"

"Mmhmm," he nodded imagining the cold mass slithering down his throat something resembling succulent lobster. If it wasn't for the god-awful flavor he chose, it wouldn't be so bad, even on an already chilly night, he figured. He watched Corrine walk ahead to the railings overlooking the Thames.

As he approached the railings himself, he noticed a couple passing by. They appeared to be in their own world, laughing and gazing into each others eyes. He tore his eyes away from the two and set them on a nearby trash can wear he tossed his gelato in.

"That view alone can make you fall in love with London," she said when she saw Vaughn join her from the corner of her eyes.

He followed her gaze over the waters. Indeed, the scene was dazzling. A halo of light glowed on the edges of the skyline from the impressive lighting in the city emitted and standing majestically above the waters stood the Tower Bridge, presented with artfully positioned spot lights.

It remained silent between them as several minutes passed, during which Vaughn ended up wondering about Josie and Z; and how their night was going with Greg.

But his thoughts were quickly put to rest as the sound of Corrine's gelato cup hitting the sides of the trashcan broke the silence.

"I guess we should get going?" she asked.

And he simply nodded.

-------------------

The downside of dressing improperly was starting to catch up to Corrine as she and Vaughn strolled briskly through the sidewalk and up to The Eye. The cool wind was penetrating the thin layers of her hoodie, t-shirt and tank top and her hands and cheeks felt icy. Try as she might to rub her arms in hopes of generating warmth, it yielded no satisfying result.

"You look cold," she heard behind her.

She made no attempt to deny the fact. "I guess that gelato didn't do any good after all. Maybe we should have had a nice big bowl of hot soup," she teased bringing a smile to Vaughn's lips, who had been thinking the same thing all along.

Behind them they heard a woman's voice and the hasty footsteps of children. "C'mon guys," they heard her say, "It's the last flight of the night; we don't want to be late,"

Corrine looked over her shoulder, and Vaughn responded with a look at his watch. Indeed it was already close to nine.

-------------------

It was unusually cool in the capsule, particularly for a cold night.

"You'd think they'd have the heat on," they heard the same mother complain as she secured one of her children's hats. It was fortunate they had heard her earlier, as the last capsules were being filled when they arrived. It was also mere chance that they were loaded into the same one. Thankfully, her children were somewhat quiet, and aside from them the capsule was completely silent.

The mother looked over her shoulder probably in search of her other two offspring, but instead found Corrine hovering close by the window. "First time?" she asked curiously.

She nodded, "It is,"

"It's William's first too," she said smoothing her fingers over her son's soft cheeks before letting him run off to join his siblings on the other side. "We should be on our way any minute now—Sarah!" she motioned over her daughter who appeared to be clearly older than the other two boys. She was obedient and smiled politely at Corrine. "Keep an eye on your brothers," the mother whispered.

And sure enough the wheel began its slow ascent.

After zipping up the top portion of the jacket her daughter undid, the mother turned back to Corrine. And it was also at this same time that Vaughn had finished talking on the phone and joined them.

The mother smiled sweetly at Vaughn. "My husband proposed to me on one of these. Rented out an entire one for the evening." An assuming glint in her eyes appeared as she darted back and forth from Vaughn and Corrine, though neither made any effort to put the assumptions to rest.

"Certainly would consider it," his words startled her more then the sudden sound of his voice. Thankfully the sound of his phone interrupted the conversation. "Excuse me," he said as he took a few steps backwards to take the call.

Corrine swallowed, not sure how to take the mother's innocent supposition, or Vaughn's perplexing statement. She understood how her and Vaughn's relationship could easily be mistaken for something a little more than friendly terms especially when their seen gallivanting off alone at night. But she didn't come close to grasping what Vaughn meant. Or if it meant anything to begin with.

She tried to focus on the mother's words or the outside scenery that she couldn't wait to see, but now it all seemed a faint blur as her head started to spin with wild and quite impossible thoughts.

"…how long have you two been together?" Corrine caught the last of her question, and suddenly felt her mouth go dry. What was she supposed to say?

As if on cue, her daughter started calling after her mother, pointing excitedly out the window. "I'm sorry will you excuse me?" she apologized with a genuine smile that was warm and inviting.

Corrine stepped back from the window and seated herself on the bench located in the middle of the capsule. As she breathed she could feel her heart beating frantically under her thin clothing. What was going on?

It wasn't for another few minutes before she felt Vaughn sit next to her. "That was Marshall," he explained as if he felt obligated to let her know.

"Oh," was all she could gather.

His eyes scanned over her. She didn't seem curious about what he and Marshall could have been talking about, or why it took over five minutes. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Don't you want to see London?"

She brought a palm up to her forehead. "I was just feeling a little dizzy. I'm feeling better now," with a smile she got to her feet and slowly walked over to the windows.

But Vaughn was not convinced. He wasn't convinced he was feeling all too well either. He looked over his shoulder at the mother they were recently talking to, and then let his eyes wander thoughtfully over Corrine.

-------------------

"Listen it was nice talking to you two. I hope everything works out," the mother said before carting her three children away.

The ride lasted far too long, or so it felt to Corrine and Vaughn who spoke but a few string of words to each other at a time. Phrases like, "How are you feeling now?", "Fine.", "Good." And "Isn't it lovely." Were the only words that passed between them during the duration of the ride. As far as real conversations went, they had none.

Their capsule was the last to be emptied, and now the crowd of people they saw exiting below dwindled down into the single digits.

Corrine looked around curiously trying to keep occupied, because she suddenly felt obligated to say something, but didn't know what.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he asked again.

"Mhmm," she answered.

It had gotten much colder than before and even crossing her arms didn't help.

It took several minutes for him to find the courage to bring up the matter they both knew was the issue. "What I said up there," he said "I was just playing along," the words escaped so fast he hadn't gotten a chance to realize what his words meant before it was too late.

"No, I know," she turned around to answer him, quickly flashing him an understanding smile—but a fake one, he soon realized.

In his hands were the ticket stubs he had forgotten to throw away on the way out due to his distractions—mainly a girl named Corrine. Along with the stubs was a small sheet of yellow paper with a number scribbled on it from a girl he had met on the way to the bathroom at the gelato shop. As they approached a nearby trash can, he paused by it, crumpling the paper up and tossing it into the bin. The tickets, he decided, he'd like to keep.

He looked up and there she was—a shivering heap of wonderful personality, curly hair, and soft skin. She smiled hesitantly in his direction before sliding her slender hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

And in an instant, as if by mutual action, their bodies met, and in a single sweep their lips locked.

"You're cold," he whispered against her lips, and she made no attempt to deny it.

-------------------

"Did I just see that?" he asked almost dropping his coffee in his disbelief.

"We should go, they might see us,"

-------------------

**So how was it? Bad? I hope not. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

I actually based some of the events in this chapter and some of the following ones from my own experiences. And the descriptions of The London Dungeon and the London Eye were of my own imagination as I have never had the liberty of visiting the famous attraction


	27. Ch27 A Day with Lucas

Odd Couples  
Ch. 27: A day with Lucas

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, and even added this fic to your favorites!! Thank you!

--

She lay on her side staring into the empty darkness, her mind a tangle of vivid thoughts; she would not find sleep tonight, not anymore. Not after...

She found herself, for the third time already, lifting a finger up to her lips brushing its softness with its tip, as if to confirm their existence. But mostly to assure herself that she wasn't dreaming. At least not anymore. The kiss, she had thought, felt so real, so perfect. She could almost feel his mouth on hers, the heat and the excitement. But she knew better than to believe that something of that nature could ever happen between her and Vaughn, at least not in reality.

The truth was that after the ride on The Eye they simply walked home--not a single word passed between them.

She closed her eyes replaying the scenes from her day with Vaughn, and how seamlessly the dream kiss blended in. If only...

--

The next morning Corrine walked into the kitchen half past eight, surprised to find out from Lucas that everyone left.

"Z went for a jog I think," he took a bite from his toast.

She leaned against the counter opposite of him and helped herself to the plate of beacon beside her. Besides the mornings she opted to buy breakfast, she rarely ever has the chance to eat it, usually because her schedule seldom permits anything but coffee and a breakfast bar. She took a generous bite from the strip, enjoying the salty crispiness of the fat. Thank god she wasn't the type of girl who watched her diet like a hawk. "Where's Josie?"

He swallowed. "She and Marshall went to some museum,"

There were tiny specks of golden brown crumbs scattered on the front of his white shirt. How she had the urge to brush them all off, like a broom sweeping up spilled cornflakes on alabaster marble. "Why didn't you go?"

"Who would be here with you?" His eyes searched hers for a moment before darting quickly to the plate of beacon.

--

"Okay, you have to imagine it with furniture and everything, or else it won't work," she warned Lucas as she slipped the key into the lock.

Lucas took a deep breath, and nodded obediently. "Okay," He was feeling particularly honored for being the first of the science club to see Corrine's new abode. He decided he wouldn't mention it to any of them, he knew how jealous Marshall would get, even if he wouldn't admit it.

The chocolate brown double doors opened into a dreamy pink haze, with picturesque floor to ceiling windows, exquisite crown molding, rich mahogany flooring, and a decadent crystal chandelier to tie it all together. "Wow, I feel like I've just walked into Barbie's penthouse," Lucas commented, and then quickly added, "No offense, I mean, this is really impressive."

He heard her sigh. "I knew the color was bit too much. I was trying to go for a, a, a...I swear it didn't look this pink when I picked it out,"

"No, no. It's nice," he let a hand stroke the sugar pink walls. "Very feminine. Reminds me of--"

She leaned against the front door. "Barbie?"

He chuckled. "No I was gonna say it reminds me of you,"

"Oh please. Liar. Maybe if it was green,"

He chuckled again, moving over to the kitchen island, casually opening a drawer. "Okay, yeah, you're probably right." he looked up, grinning. "Greens a nice color,"

"So I should change it?"

He studied her for a moment, letting his eyes search hers. He was wearing the contacts his mother bought him for the trip; in the unfortunate event he loses his glasses. Without those tiny shields covering his eyes, Corrine could see clearly into the depths of his brown irises. How sad and honest they appeared just then under his equally scrutinizing gaze. "No," he finally answered in an almost bare whisper that could only be heard between them.

She looked away suddenly, aware of their compromising situation that seemed to have developed out of thin air. This was Lucas. Lucas. She reminded herself.

After clearing his throat, he made his way over to the fridge at the lack of any better ideas. "Wanna get buzzed?" he asked peering from the edge of the door mischievously.

It took a moment for it to register for her. "Those are Greg's" she answered, remembering how he left them in there the day they came to check up on the chandelier installation.

"I'm sure he won't mind," he reassured, quickly pulling out two bottles of malt liquor.

--

"I can see why you bought this place," he said leaning coolly over the balcony railings. "You can see all of London!" he pointed to the city with the bottle in his hand.

She smiled up at him from where she was sitting. She almost wanted to laugh at the unfamiliar and somewhat ridiculous image of a drunk Lucas she envisioned in her mind.

He took a generous swallow from his drink. "This must've cost you a fortune,"

"Not me," she simply answered.

"Oh, yeah,"

For a moment neither spoke. And all that could be heard was the distinct ambience of city life, and the occasional clinking of glass.

"So what's up with you and Vaughn?" he finally asked.

She looked at him unsurely. But just the mention of his name caused her heart to beat just a little bit faster. "What do you mean?"

He was grinning "You know what I mean Corrine,"

At the lack of anything to say that wouldn't justify any sort of assumption, she took a long hard swallow from her drink. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Was it that obvious that she had feelings for him?

"You guys have a little something going on?" he continued. By now he was on his third bottle. The third and last one out of the pack. Corrine looked down beside her and frowned at her single half empty bottle.

Maybe it was the alcohol that was getting into Lucas's head and making him think these ridiculous things, she thought. "No, of course not. Vaughn and I are just friends," she declared.

Lucas nodded, still grinning mischievously. "Okay, but if you ask me, you can't find anyone better than Vaughn Pearson,"

Yes. It was definitely the alcohol.

Corrine raised an eyebrow "Weren't you always the one who hated him?"

"Never hated him. It was more of a misunderstanding," He sat down his drink beside his other two bottles, and stretched out his arms. He looked so cool and calm, while Corrine sat tense and slightly embarrassed, hoping the truth wouldn't unravel itself. "Really, he's a good guy though."

Corrine could tell he was giving her his honest opinion of Vaughn. She couldn't figure out why though.

"Kind of guy who wouldn't stab you in the back," he suddenly said turning back around to look out into the city.

Corrine looked up expectantly at Lucas. "What?"

He sniffed, and looked out towards the city. From the 22nd floor he could easily see the distinct division of the old traditional London, and its new contemporary counterpart. He wishes he had a view like this back at home.

"What?" she asked again.

There was a short moment where it appeared he hadn't heard her. But not long after he turned around, and slowly sat down beside her. The way they had their legs crossed reminded him of big soft pretzels and elementary school. He looked at her again, the same sad way he had looked at her in the kitchen.

Corrine searched his glasses less eyes.

"Last night I saw Marshall kiss Josie," he said it slowly as if it hurt to speak the words. "Or Josie kiss Marshall. Well, it doesn't really matter, they still kissed."

--

**I do apologize for the terribly long wait. Busy life, lots of problems, missing motivation, lacking inspiration. But most of that is over. So with that said,**

How was it? Bad? I hope not. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I actually based some of the events in this chapter and some of the following ones from my own experiences. And the descriptions of The London Dungeon and the London Eye were of my own imagination as I have never had the liberty of visiting the famous attraction


	28. Ch28 Not a Dream

Hello readers! If there are even any of you left out there. Alas, an update! After years (yes, years) I bring you a new chapter to this ongoing saga. Let's hope this rekindles some of your fandom. I know writing this new installment sure has gotten me all worked up again about BHH. The series was such a great part of my growing up, as I'm sure it was for many of you too. So let's keep these stories alive!

And finally, I present to you chapter 28. Enjoy! And as always feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated.

**CH 28 Not a dream**

"I'm sure they didn't." Corrine gave her head a decisive shake of disagreement. It was hard to fathom that such an occurrence could even happen; they were talking about Josie and Marshall after all. They had no business kissing. It was understandably established that they were just friends, and "just" friends don't kiss each other.

"Me and Greg saw them with our own eyes, Corrine."

"Greg and I," she corrected. Her voice tainted ever so slightly with annoyance.

"Huh?" He had his legs pulled up to his chest now, and his head dangled above his knees. He looked sad and sullen.

"You said 'me and Greg', it's Greg and I," she explained rather indifferently. Her mind wasn't exactly focused on lecturing about grammatically correct English at the moment.

Lucas stretched out his legs before him, and with a dubious expression studied his sneakers. They were brown-the sort of rich, chocolate pudding shade of brown and looked identical to a pair of Converses, much like the ones Josie wore, but they weren't. "All the same," he simply said.

"I guess." She stared out at the sky.

Lucas scoffed, "Doesn't matter anyway; I'm over her."

Was she over him? She liked to entertain the thought that she was one hundred percent over Marshall Wheeler, but was that really the truth? Was Lucas telling the truth, even? Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. Marshall would never kiss Josie, and Josie would never let him. Or would they?

* * *

After taking Lucas over to see her new apartment, Corrine found herself wanting to be alone; she wanted some time to herself to think. After parting ways, she unconsciously headed towards her University. It was the only place she could find solace.

There, she sat down on a bench overlooking the lake that all the main buildings lined. The sky had turned a dusky rose, and up in the sky Venus finally graced the world with her short lived presence.

Across the lake, in full view was the library. It's modernized large, glass windows was a nice contrast to the building's otherwise classical architecture. Half a semester in and she still had a hard time believing this was her school. How lucky she was to be studying abroad at such a prestigious university!

A couple walked by, hand in hand, and it prompted Corrine back to the problem that initiated all her contemplation.

She didn't know how she truly felt about Marshall and Josie kissing. Strangely it didn't bother her as much as she'd imagined it would; she wasn't hurt nor was she the slightest bit jealous. If anything, she felt a strange mixture of relief and uneasiness. Perhaps, Marshall kissing Josie meant he was finally over her? Or maybe it was Josie who was finally over Vaughn?

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by the quick electronic beat of Foster the People. A glance on her phone indicated an unknown number was calling.

'telemarketer,' she thought and let the ringtone loop.

* * *

That night Corrine came home to find Vaughn sprawled out on the sofa. The lights were all off except for the glow of the television set that lit up all four corners of the room. Quietly, she locked the door behind her.

There was no indication that anyone else was home. Josie's Converses usually thrown haphazardly by the dining table was nowhere in sight. Perhaps they all went out for dinner?

She tiptoed easily to the living room and peered over the couch. Vaughn was sound asleep. In his left hand he clutched the remote. Corrine found herself smiling and wondering if she should try to pry them out of his grip, but decided otherwise. How peaceful he looked, and how warm he must feel. Suddenly, as she made this observation a chill ran down her spine; her dress with its low cut back did zero justice against the AC vent right above her.

After switching the TV off and turning on one of the lamps, she found herself walking back to the couch and sitting on the coffee table opposite Vaughn. She sat there and watched. So close she was to him. How easily she could slide right next to him and feel his warmth against her body. How badly she wanted to not feel so alone. How she yearned for some perspective.

Vaughn stirred, and finally looked up to see Corrine watching him ever so tenderly. "Hey," he said.

Surprisingly he didn't wake up alarmed to see her dark figure hovering over him so closely. "Hi," she straightened her back.

"Was wondering when you were gonna get home," he propped himself up on his elbows. "Everyone went out to Dwight's; it's taco Tuesdays."

She tried to return his smile. "Why didn't you go?"

He'd gotten himself to sit up; even half groggy he still had the nicest eyes.

"Lucas said you guys went to check out your new apartment today. Afterwards, he said you took off like rocket. Didn't know where you went," He paused. "I tried calling, but it just went straight to voicemail. Is everything okay?"

"You called?" She sounded perplexed. She hadn't had a missed call from Vaughn all day.

"Yeah. Here, look, I can even prove it you," he pulled out his cellphone and quickly pulled up his call log. He pointed to her name. "See, right there. 7:12."

"That looks like a new phone," she observed.

"It is. Dropped my old one sometime today and didn't realize it until after class was over with. Had to cancel my old number and get a new one, and all that crap."

It then registered to her. "Oh my gosh! You were the one calling from that 647 number. I'd thought it was someone from that stupid raffle I entered. I would've picked up had I known it was you!"

Vaughn chuckled. "It's okay, at least I know it wasn't because you were held against your will or anything like that."

"No, I was just…thinking."

"Is everything okay? You still haven't answered my question."

Corrine sighed. Everything wasn't okay. A few hours ago she didn't care that her best friend kissed Marshall; she was practically okay with it. But now, as she'd sat there in the dark watching Vaughn sleep all the bitterness and real emotion came crashing in. She was heartbroken, she was furious, and above all else she felt terribly alone.

There must have been something in her disposition that indicated something was wrong because a moment later she was in Vaughn's arms, tears running down her smooth cheeks. The musky fragrance of his cologne filled her nostrils and gave her sense of comfort and security. She could stay like this forever, and for a while they did. Vaughn kept her close, and she, never wanting to let go, rested her head on his shoulders.

After a moment, she looked up at her savior. Why did it have to be Vaughn? Why did he have to be so good to her? His fingertips came up brushed the last of her tears away. He smiled tenderly. Suddenly the memory of their kiss came flooding back. It wasn't a dream, and this very moment wasn't a dream either.

* * *

Ta-da! And that's the end of ch 28. How was it? Was it as good as your imagined? could it have been better? let me know!


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